Skagen Old Church Ruins, Skagen, Denmark

Skagen Old church, also called as 'Sand-Covered Church' was built in the 14th century and dedicated to Saint Lawrence of Rome. It was a brick church of considerable size and located 2 km south-west of the town centre. The white church tower is all that is visible of the former church, the rest of it demolished and the neighboring village having been buried under the sand from nearby dunes.

The church was named for the patron saint of sailors, but was buried by sand from Råbjerg Milen. The desertification that hit the area in the 18th century led to the abandonment of the old parish church to the migrating sands. This area of dunes threatened the church and the village for centuries, and the planting of trees could not prevent further encroachment: the church itself was demolished in 1775. All the furniture, fittings, and interior decoration were sold or moved to a new church (Skagen Church 1841), while the church tower being left to rise above the sand.

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User Reviews

M KC (9 months ago)
Lovely old church in a beautiful, wild setting. Small but very nice and decently maintained. Signage is helpful, though mostly in Danish. Nice views from the too.

Heather Weber-Langvardt (12 months ago)
Very interesting site, short hike. It was fairly crowded and a bit of a wait to climb the tower. The tower is very narrow. Lots of barn swallows!

Vasanthan (13 months ago)
Amazing place. Can climb up the church to see the views..

Meena Jain (14 months ago)
If one is fond of cycling and has interest in historical places then this place is goid. Some part of this church is buried in the sand. Old structure with a very raw wild surrounding. I enjoyed cycling to this place from the station

Matthias Hess (2 years ago)
Interesting historical landmark. It's free and you can climb up to the rafters and enjoy the view. Nice walking trails in the surrounding park as well.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Infomastern

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Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.

Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.

There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.

Skagen Old Church Ruins

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