Rundetårn, Copenhagen, Denmark - SpottingHistory.com

The Rundetårn (Round Tower) is a 17th-century tower located in central Copenhagen. One of the many architectural projects of Christian IV, it was built as an astronomical observatory. It is most noted for its 7.5-turn helical corridor leading to the top, and for the expansive views it affords over Copenhagen.

The tower is part of the Trinitatis Complex which also provided the scholars of the time with a university chapel, the Trinitatis Church, and an academic library which was the first purpose-built facilities of the Copenhagen University Library which had been founded in 1482.

Today the Round Tower serves as an observation tower for expansive views of Copenhagen, a public astronomical observatory and a historical monument. In the same time the Library Hall, located above the church and only accessible along the tower's ramp, is an active cultural venue with both exhibitions and a busy concert schedule.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Lhyn Garcia (11 months ago)
Its a fantastic place to go.. its beautiful upstairs you can see the roofs of the colorful houses and church. I recommend that you go when its good weather.

Tilly Star (12 months ago)
So worth going!! Lovely view up the top, not too strenuous of a walk up. A mostly flat walk with stairs at the last part to the very top, and windows all along the spiraling hallway up with lovely views too. Halfway up there was a large room with an amazing art exhibition too. Lovely surprise!

Selin Gürlemez (12 months ago)
No stairs until the top, therefore it's easy to go out. View is nice but it's not very pretty because of the iron railings. Ticket is almost 5.5 Euro.

Katarzyna Jasińska (13 months ago)
I've never seen a steep floor inside the tower instead of the stairs! Tickets for the tower are very affordable and the view of the city is beautiful. On two floors there are interesting exhibitions, permanent - about the historical aspect of the tower and temporary. Very pleasant visit. Highly recommend as a part of sightseeing in Copenhagen.

Thorben Menne (13 months ago)
Well maintained with a nice view over the city, which is unfortunately blocked a little by a quite massive fence. The glass floor over the hollow core is a small highlight. The view into the attic on the intermediate floor could be a bit clearer or the corridor extended further.

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Broch of Gurness

The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.

The remains of the central tower are up to 3.6 metres high, and the stone walls are up to 4.1 metres thick. The tower was likely inhabited by the principal family or clan of the area but also served as a last resort for the village in case of an attack.

The broch continued to be inhabited while it began to collapse and the original structures were altered. The cistern was filled in and the interior was repartitioned. The ruin visible today reflects this secondary phase of the broch's use.

The site is surrounded by three ditches cut out of the rock with stone ramparts, encircling an area of around 45 metres diameter. The remains of numerous small stone dwellings with small yards and sheds can be found between the inner ditch and the tower. These were built after the tower, but were a part of the settlement's initial conception. A 'main street' connects the outer entrance to the broch. The settlement is the best-preserved of all broch villages.

Pieces of a Roman amphora dating to before 60 AD were found here, lending weight to the record that a 'King of Orkney' submitted to Emperor Claudius at Colchester in 43 AD.

At some point after 100 AD the broch was abandoned and the ditches filled in. It is thought that settlement at the broch continued into the 5th century AD, the period known as Pictish times. By that time the broch was not used anymore and some of its stones were reused to build smaller dwellings on top of the earlier buildings. Until about the 8th century, the site was just a single farmstead.

In the 9th century, a Norse woman was buried at the site in a stone-lined grave with two bronze brooches and a sickle and knife made from iron. Other finds suggest that Norse men were buried here too.

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