Viking Ship Museum

Roskilde, Denmark

The Viking Ship Museum (Vikingeskibsmuseet) is the Danish national museum for ships, seafaring and boatbuilding in the prehistoric and medieval period.

Around the year 1070, five Viking ships were deliberately sunk at Skuldelev in Roskilde Fjord in order to block the most important fairway and to protect Roskilde from enemy attack from the sea. These ships, later known as the Skuldelev ships, were excavated in 1962. They turned out to be five different types of ships ranging from cargo ships to ships of war.

The Viking Ship Museum overlooks Roskilde Fjord and was built in 1969 especially to exhibit the five newly-discovered ships. In the late 1990s excavations for an expansion of the museum uncovered a further 9 ships including the longest Viking warship ever discovered, at 36 metres.

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Address

Vindeboder 20, Roskilde, Denmark
See all sites in Roskilde

Details


Category: Museums in Denmark

More Information

www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk
en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.3/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Roskilde Cathedral (0,8 km)
Roskilde Palace (0,9 km)
St. Lawrence's Church Ruins (0,9 km)
St. Jørgensbjerg Church (0,2 km)
Roskilde Abbey (1,3 km)


City Hall (30,9 km)
Rundetårn (31,3 km)
Trinitatis Church (31,4 km)
Caritas Well (31,1 km)
Rosenborg Castle (31,5 km)
National Museum of Denmark (31,2 km)
Church of Our Lady (31,1 km)
Church of the Holy Ghost (31,4 km)
Frederiksborg Palace (34,6 km)

User Reviews

Tomas Sharky (2 years ago)
For the people who like history of Vikings and reading a lot, its great place. But for people who likes to see things, you can finish this in 15 min. There are 5 ships (not really, because some are only 25% some 75% reconstructed. I think the price 110 DKK does not reflect the experience / value you get.
Swathi Lekshmi (3 years ago)
If you are interested in history and Vikings, you must visit this place. You will also enjoy to dress up like Vikings and have a sailing experience in ship. Good place for kids. You can also buy some souvenirs from museum.
You Li (3 years ago)
If you are into boats and history this is an incredible museum. They do “experimental archeology” where they reconstruct the boats and invite visitors to sail them in the fjord. There is an incredible find of 5 real Viking boats that were scuttled in the fjord over 1000 years ago. This museum is very interactive and especially good for kids or those who are young at heart.
Danny MA (3 years ago)
The sailing in a reconstructed ship is a wonderful experience as is the tour of the reconstructed ships, tying knots, floating your own ships. It would be nice if there was a larger quantity and variety of tools for making model ships though. The staff are very nice and great at explaining how everything works and the historical facts.
Rike K (3 years ago)
An amazing experience! The entrance is included in the Copenhagen card, so we spontaneously decided to have a gasp. We stayed for two hours, especially watching a viking boat replica being built. There is much to not only see but also to touch and try out. Highly recommended!
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Glimmingehus

Glimmingehus is the best preserved medieval stronghold in Scandinavia. It was built 1499-1506, during an era when Scania formed a vital part of Denmark, and contains many defensive arrangements of the era, such as parapets, false doors and dead-end corridors, 'murder-holes' for pouring boiling pitch over the attackers, moats, drawbridges and various other forms of death traps to surprise trespassers and protect the nobles against peasant uprisings. The lower part of the castle's stone walls are 2.4 meters (94 inches) thick and the upper part 1.8 meters (71 inches).

Construction was started in 1499 by the Danish knight Jens Holgersen Ulfstand and stone-cutter-mason and architect Adam van Düren, a North German master who also worked on Lund Cathedral. Construction was completed in 1506.

Ulfstand was a councillor, nobleman and admiral serving under John I of Denmark and many objects have been uncovered during archeological excavations that demonstrate the extravagant lifestyle of the knight's family at Glimmingehus up until Ulfstand's death in 1523. Some of the most expensive objects for sale in Europe during this period, such as Venetian glass, painted glass from the Rhine district and Spanish ceramics have been found here. Evidence of the family's wealth can also be seen inside the stone fortress, where everyday comforts for the knight's family included hot air channels in the walls and bench seats in the window recesses. Although considered comfortable for its period, it has also been argued that Glimmingehus was an expression of "Knighthood nostalgia" and not considered opulent or progressive enough even to the knight's contemporaries and especially not to later generations of the Scanian nobility. Glimmingehus is thought to have served as a residential castle for only a few generations before being transformed into a storage facility for grain.

An order from Charles XI to the administrators of the Swedish dominion of Scania in 1676 to demolish the castle, in order to ensure that it would not fall into the hands of the Danish king during the Scanian War, could not be executed. A first attempt, in which 20 Scanian farmers were ordered to assist, proved unsuccessful. An additional force of 130 men were sent to Glimmingehus to execute the order in a second attempt. However, before they could carry out the order, a Danish-Dutch naval division arrived in Ystad, and the Swedes had to abandon the demolition attempts. Throughout the 18th century the castle was used as deposit for agricultural produce and in 1924 it was donated to the Swedish state. Today it is administered by the Swedish National Heritage Board.

On site there is a museum, medieval kitchen, shop and restaurant and coffee house. During summer time there are several guided tours daily. In local folklore, the castle is described as haunted by multiple ghosts and the tradition of storytelling inspired by the castle is continued in the summer events at the castle called "Strange stories and terrifying tales".

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