Medieval churches in Denmark

Gauerslund Church

Gauerslund Church was founded in the 12th century and rebuilt several times. The latest addition is a tower from 1918 which was built after the old one collapsed. The baptismal font is the oldest item in the church, dating from the building time. The altarpiece dates from 1600 and pulpit from 1606.
Founded: 12th century | Location: Børkop, Denmark

Sønder Bjert Church

Sønder Bjert Church was built near the end of the 12th century out of stone cut from boulders and originally did not have a tower. The church"s roofing consists of lead, which was last renovated in 2000. The crucifix was built in the mid-13th century and altarpiece was made by Hans Dreyer in 1624. The baptismal font dates from around 1650. 
Founded: 12th century | Location: Kolding, Denmark

Taulov Church

Taulov Church is a medieval church in traditional Danish style, and was constructed in the 13th century. In 1581 a chapel was added to the church. It functioned as a seamark for sailors on Kolding Fjord and Little Belt until modern navigation was introduced. The church was fully restored in 1999.
Founded: 13th century | Location: Fredericia, Denmark

Jørlunde Church

Jørlunde church is an early medieval church situated in Jørlunde, built by Skjalm Hvide around the year 1085. The church is richly decorated inside with frescos dating back to the middle of the 12th century created by the so called Jørlunde workshop.
Founded: c. 1085 | Location: Slangerup, Denmark

Skibinge Church

The beautiful whitewashed Skibinge church stands on the top of a hill in the outskirts of Skibinge. It was built in the 12th century, and the porch and the tower was added after the 15th centrury. The interior is decorated with a late Gothic pulpit from about 1500 and a beautiful altarpiece from 1669.
Founded: 12th century | Location: Præstø, Denmark

Sebber Priory

Sebber Priory was established between 1250 and 1268 as a house for Benedictine nuns. The priory was dedicated to St. Lawrence. Its founding details are uncertain; it may have begun as an Augustinian house. One question about Sebber Priory has always been why it was located on the coast in such an isolated location. It appears that Sebber was already a village in Viking times, a trading place for ships plying the Limfjord ...
Founded: c. 1250 | Location: Nibe, Denmark

Magleby Church

Magleby Church was originally built in the Romanesque style in the second half of the 13th century. The rounded tops of bricked-in windows from this period can still be seen on either side of the nave. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the church was converted to the Gothic style with cross vaults, Gothic windows and a number of additions and extensions. The tower which dates back to the older parts of the church originally ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Borre, Denmark

Grindsted Church

Grindsted Church was built in the 1100s and enlarged around 1300. A granite ashlar and brick porch was added to the south door of the nave in the 1500s.
Founded: 12th century | Location: Grindsted, Denmark

Østofte Church

Østofte Church was built in the 14th century. The Romanesque apse, chancel and nave formed the original building while the tower and porch were added in the Late-Gothic period and the north wing was completed in 1656. The church was dedicated to St Peter, probably in 1345. King Christopher of Bavaria transferred ownership to Maribo Abbey as first documented in 1451. That ownership remained after the Reformation wh ...
Founded: 14th century | Location: Nørreballe, Denmark

Havnbjerg Church

Havnbjerg Church is a 12th century Romanesque stone church. Tower and spire date from 1857. The bells date from 1370 and 1920. The altarpiece is a painting by C.W.Eckersberg. In the wall of the choir is a so-called piscina - a basin designed for liturgical handwashing. The pulpit is late Renaissance and the baptismal font has a Romanesque top. The organ has 20 stops. The churchyard has soldiers" graves from 1848 and ...
Founded: 12th century | Location: Nordborg, Denmark

Oksbøl Church

Oksbøl Church has Romanesque origins with Gothic tower and porch. A Gothic triptych altarpiece dates from the beginning of the 15th century, a Baroque/Renaissance pulpit from 1626 and wooden font from about 1700.
Founded: c. 1100 | Location: Nordborg, Denmark

St. Knud's Church

St. Knud’s is a traditional old village church, situated some distance to the east of Rønne town centre. It was built around the year 1150. It is the smallest church on Bornholm. The little church’s interior is of slightly more recent provenance - the altar dating from the 17th century and the interior decoration from the 18th.
Founded: ca. 1150 | Location: Rønne, Denmark

Gundsømagle Church

Gundsømagle Church was completed around the year 1100. The pulpit is from about 1610. The vicar"s stull was made by Caspar Lubbeke in 1657. The frescoes in the chancel arches date from the 12th century.
Founded: c. 1100 | Location: Roskilde, Denmark

Ruth's Church

Ruth's Church (Ruts Kirke) was built in the early 13th century in the Romanesque style. Situated on a hilltop 130 m above sea level, it is the island's highest-standing church. The oldest reference to the church dates from 1490 where Sancti Michelssogen (St Michael's Parish) is mentioned. The church was initially consecrated as St Michael's, possibly because of its high location. By 1621, the name had become Ruth's Church ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Hasle, Denmark

Skrøbelev Church

Skrøbelev Church was probably built in the 1100s. The church consists of a Romanesque nave, which in the late Gothic period was reconstructed to its present form with the addition of a chancel, tower to the west, vestry to the north and porch to the south. A number of interesting bas reliefs have been preserved on the exterior of the Romanesque part of the church. The mural paintings date back to the late Gothic pe ...
Founded: 12th century | Location: Rudkobing, Denmark

Holeby Church

Holeby Church was built in the mid-1200s. Its Romanesque architecture is more simple than in other churches in Lolland island. The most notable inventory is a so-called Holeby Crucifix from the 1300s, which is today located at Maribo Museum. The unusually big baptismal font was made in Gotland. The pulpit dates from 1586 and altar from 1590. It is also known that the preceding altar depicted St. John Chrysostom and the ch ...
Founded: c. 1250 | Location: Holeby, Denmark

Errindlev Church

Errindlev Church dates from the second half of the 12th century. It has a Romanesque chancel and nave. The church is said to have been dedicated to St Nicholas because of its associations with seafarers who used it as a landmark. After the Reformation it belonged to the Crown until in 1699 it was transferred to Flemming Holck til Lungholm whose estate was acquired by Christian Detlev Reventlow. As a result, it later came ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Errindlev, Denmark

Sandby Church

Sandby Church dates from the middle of the 13th century and it has a Romanesque chancel and nave and a Late Gothic tower. Little is known of the church"s early history other than the Crown had clerical appointment rights before the Reformation. It remained under the Crown until 1679 when it was transferred to the episcopal authority of Funen. In 1726, it passed into the ownership of the Danneskiold-Samsøe til ...
Founded: c. 1250 | Location: Harpelunde, Denmark

Bredstrup Church

Bredstrup Church dates from the late Romanesque period. The tower is from the late Gothic period. Only the porch is more recent, from the 1800s. The baptismal font is from the Romanesque period, the altarpiece in the late Baroque style is from 1600s. The expressive altar painting is a gift to the church painted by N. Larsen Stevns, 1920. The current font is from Kongsted Church. The pulpit is in Renaissance style and from ...
Founded: 12th century | Location: Fredericia, Denmark

Gårslev Church

Gårslev church was founded in the 12th century and rebuilt several times of stones and bricks.
Founded: 12th century | Location: Børkop, Denmark

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Monte d'Accoddi

Monte d"Accoddi is a Neolithic archaeological site in northern Sardinia, located in the territory of Sassari. The site consists of a massive raised stone platform thought to have been an altar. It was constructed by the Ozieri culture or earlier, with the oldest parts dated to around 4,000–3,650 BC.

The site was discovered in 1954 in a field owned by the Segni family. No chambers or entrances to the mound have been found, leading to the presumption it was an altar, a temple or a step pyramid. It may have also served an observational function, as its square plan is coordinated with the cardinal points of the compass.

The initial Ozieri structure was abandoned or destroyed around 3000 BC, with traces of fire found in the archeological evidence. Around 2800 BC the remains of the original structure were completely covered with a layered mixture of earth and stone, and large blocks of limestone were then applied to establish a second platform, truncated by a step pyramid (36 m × 29 m, about 10 m in height), accessible by means of a second ramp, 42 m long, built over the older one. This second temple resembles contemporary Mesopotamian ziggurats, and is attributed to the Abealzu-Filigosa culture.

Archeological excavations from the chalcolithic Abealzu-Filigosa layers indicate the Monte d"Accoddi was used for animal sacrifice, with the remains of sheep, cattle, and swine recovered in near equal proportions. It is among the earliest known sacrificial sites in Western Europe.

The site appears to have been abandoned again around 1800 BC, at the onset of the Nuragic age.

The monument was partially reconstructed during the 1980s. It is open to the public and accessible by the old route of SS131 highway, near the hamlet of Ottava. It is 14,9 km from Sassari and 45 km from Alghero. There is no public transportation to the site. The opening times vary throughout the year.