Top Historic Sights in Aabenraa, Denmark
Explore the historic highlights of Aabenraa
St. Nicholas Church
St. Nicholas church was built probably between 1250-1300. It was dedicated to St. Nicholas about 1360. In the Middle Ages it was likely surrounded by a rampart outside of the town ramparts. The extremely ornamental altarpiece dates from 1642 and restored in 1989. The early Renaissance pulpit dates from 1565.Brundlund Castle
Brundlund Castle was build 1411 by Queen Margareth I. It was used as the residence of the county prefect for several hundred years and it helped strengthening the position of the crown in Southern Jutland. The castle has been rebuilt a number of times, most recently in 1805-1807 and has fully restored in 1985. In 1998 it opened as an art museum cointaining Danish art from the 18th century to the present. Brundlund Castle ...Felsted Church
Felsted Church was originally built in the 13th century and the rare wooden bell-tower is dated 1769. The altarpiece is Gothic triptych from 1430. The pulpit dates from 1808.Kliplev Church
Kliplev Church was church was built in the 15th century and early 16th century to the site of older Romanesque church. The rebuilding took place because the church was a pilgrimage church and the old building got too small. It was torn down and a new one has been built around 1450, now in the Gothic style. The bell tower, from approximately 1300, is on of the oldest bell towers in Denmark.Varnæs Church
Varnæs Church dates from c. 1150, the baptismal font is original. The Baldachin reredos of oak is from around 1475. The renaissance style pulpit with wooden carving dates from 1606, and the crucifix circa 1250. St. Jørgens chapel on the south side was added in the 14th century, here were held services for lepers. The organ was made by Marcussen & Son, 1892. In cemetery stands a war memorial for the fallen during Wor ...Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings
Historic Site of the week
Palazzo Colonna
The Palazzo Colonna is a palatial block of buildings built in part over ruins of an old Roman Serapeum, and has belonged to the prestigious Colonna family for over twenty generations.
The first part of the palace dates from the 13th century, and tradition holds that the building hosted Dante in his visit to Rome. The first documentary mention notes that the property hosted Cardinal Giovanni and Giacomo Colonna in the 13th century. It was also home to Cardinal Oddone Colonna before he ascended to the papacy as Martin V (1417–1431).
With his passing, the palace was sacked during feuds, and the main property passed into the hands of the Della Rovere family. It returned to the Colonna family when Marcantonio I Colonna married Lucrezia Gara Franciotti Della Rovere, the niece of pope Julius II. The Colonna"s alliance to the Habsburg power, likely protected the palace from looting during the Sack of Rome (1527).
Starting with Filippo Colonna (1578–1639) many changes have refurbished and create a unitary complex around a central garden. Architects including Girolamo Rainaldi and Paolo Marucelli labored on specific projects. Only in the 17th and 18th centuries were the main facades completed. Much of this design was completed by Antonio del Grande (including the grand gallery), and Girolamo Fontana (decoration of gallery). In the 18th century, the long low facade designed by Nicola Michetti with later additions by Paolo Posi with taller corner blocks (facing Piazza Apostoli) was constructed recalls earlier structures resembling a fortification.
The main gallery (completed 1703) and the masterful Colonna art collection was acquired after 1650 by both the cardinal Girolamo I Colonna and his nephew the Connestabile Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna and includes works by Lorenzo Monaco, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Palma the Elder, Salviati, Bronzino, Tintoretto, Pietro da Cortona, Annibale Carracci (painting of The Beaneater), Guercino, Francesco Albani, Muziano and Guido Reni. Ceiling frescoes by Filippo Gherardi, Giovanni Coli, Sebastiano Ricci, and Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari celebrate the role of Marcantonio II Colonna in the battle of Lepanto (1571). The gallery is open to the public on Saturday mornings.
The older wing of the complex known as the Princess Isabelle"s apartments, but once housing Martin V"s library and palace, contains frescoes by Pinturicchio, Antonio Tempesta, Crescenzio Onofri, Giacinto Gimignani, and Carlo Cesi. It contains a collection of landscapes and genre scenes by painters like Gaspard Dughet, Caspar Van Wittel (Vanvitelli), and Jan Brueghel the Elder.
Along with the possessions of the Doria-Pamphilij and Pallavacini-Rospigliosi families, this is one of the largest private art collections in Rome.