Christiansborg Palace

Copenhagen, Denmark

Christiansborg Palace is the seat of the Danish Parliament, the Danish Prime Minister's Office and the Danish Supreme Court. Also, several parts of the palace are used by the monarchy, including the Royal Reception Rooms, the Palace Chapel and the Royal Stables.

The palace is thus the house of Denmark's three supreme powers: the executive power, the legislative power, and the judicial power. It is the only building in the world that houses all three of a country's branches of government. Christiansborg Palace is owned by the Danish state, and is run by the Palaces and Properties Agency.

The present building, the third to be built on the site, is the last in a series of successive castles and palaces constructed on the same site since the erection of the first castle in 1167. The first castle on the site was Absalon's Castle. According to the Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus, Bishop Absalon of Roskilde built a castle in 1167 on a small island outside Copenhagen Harbour. Since the early fifteenth century, the various buildings have served as the base of the central administration; until 1794 as the principal residence of the Danish kings and after 1849 as the seat of parliament.

The palace today bears witness to three eras of Danish architecture, as the result of two serious fires. The first fire occurred in 1794 and the second in 1884. The main part of the current palace, finished in 1928, is in the historicist Neo-baroque style. The chapel dates to 1826 and is in a neoclassical style. The showgrounds were built 1738-46, in a baroque style.

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Details

Founded: 1733
Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Denmark
Historical period: Absolutism (Denmark)

Rating

4.5/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Hatulitos TV (2 years ago)
Beautiful place, there is stables with horses but keep quiet so they can rest. You can go up to the tower for free but you have to pass a security check, at the tower there is a free toilet and at the tower there a beautiful view. When you go out the second elevator will take you to an automatic door and you will ve outside.
Ashton Butler (2 years ago)
The staff were amazing. The app used to tour is so helpful and informative. Of all the museums we saw on our Copenhagen trip I thought this one was the best presentation. I loved the Royal Reception Rooms but honestly no part of this tour disappointed
Brian Hagan (2 years ago)
August 2022 • A must visit when in Copenhagen! Beautiful both inside and out with many other segments to tour besides the main palace, such as the ruins beneath (some interesting history to read about down here + kid friendly), the kitchen, the stables, the tower & more. All of these attractions are included in the Copenhagen Card, which I highly recommend as well!
Kharuna Ramrukheea (2 years ago)
Considering it is free to go up the tower, i think it is a really nice deal. The security is no joke here, you will be scanned to go up the tower and the view is worth it on a nice weather day. We did not have such luck bit still pretty nice i would say. The staff working there are friendly. To see the stables, carts and artillery you have to pay. With the copemhagen card, we did not have to worry about it. To see the parliament, you need to book a guided visit tour, which we did not.
Julien Rey (2 years ago)
A nice castle still in use for ceremonies by the royal family, you can visit the royal kitchen, the Great hall, the royal stables and the ruins of the previous middle age castle. The visit of the Great all is interesting, for the rest nothing special. I do not recommend the stables, you will see few horses and carriages and it's only opened from 13h30 until 16h00.
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