Viking Museum, Aarhus, Denmark - SpottingHistory.com

The Viking Museum is built upon the site of anarchaeological excavation that revealed various Viking Age structures, items, and parts of a human skeleton. The museum also provides information regarding the history of Viking Age Aarhus and also features copies of items on display at the Moesgaard Museum, itself located near Aarhus.

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Museums in Denmark

User Reviews

Edit Somoskoi (2 years ago)
Very interesting exhibition in the city of Aarhus. Exactly as it was originally in the 12th century. Thank you!

Natalia Bilbao (2 years ago)
Even though it is a small place - you will not be more than 45 minutes there - and it is not a large exhibition, the fact that the museum is set exactly where items were found adds a note of excitement and interest to the place. Still, more things about the religion or Vikings' set of beliefs can be said.

Ramla mahamed (2 years ago)
Its a very quiet museum. I had all the museum to myself and there were voice (the machine tells you stories) so it could be scary sometimes. But otherwise its a nice museum to get to know the Vikings.

Kenny Persen (2 years ago)
Very small museum and hard to find from the street. You will have to know about this to find it. Tickets are self service and cost only 30 kroner which is no fortune but the museum is very very small. Worth a quick visit if you need to do everything but the much greater Moesgaard is definitely preferred

Steven Javor (2 years ago)
Excellent museum on the 5 Viking ships discovered in the harbour and now have replicas rebuilt. Very hands on museum based on Viking shipbuilding. Can actually go on a short trip on one of the rebuilt Viking ships. A lot of great information also available in English. Many photos and descriptions and an area where you can dress up as a Viking on go on a “Viking Ship” for photos. More a museum about Viking boats than Viking history or legacy. Best to go early as it gets busy near noon. Food available on site in the cafe or next door in tree restaurant. Lots of free parking and close to the centre of town.

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Hagios Demetrios

The Church of Saint Demetrius, or Hagios Demetrios, is the main sanctuary dedicated to Saint Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessaloniki. It is part of the site Palaeochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO since 1988.

The first church on the spot was constructed in the early 4th century AD, replacing a Roman bath. A century later, a prefect named Leontios replaced the small oratory with a larger, three-aisled basilica. Repeatedly gutted by fires, the church eventually was reconstructed as a five-aisled basilica in 629–634. This was the surviving form of the church much as it is today. The most important shrine in the city, it was probably larger than the local cathedral. The historic location of the latter is now unknown.

The church had an unusual shrine called the ciborium, a hexagonal, roofed structure at one side of the nave. It was made of or covered with silver. The structure had doors and inside was a couch or bed. Unusually, it did not hold any physical relics of the saint. The ciborium seems to have been a symbolic tomb. It was rebuilt at least once.

The basilica is famous for six extant mosaic panels, dated to the period between the latest reconstruction and the inauguration of the Byzantine Iconoclasm in 730. These mosaics depict St. Demetrius with officials responsible for the restoration of the church (called the founders, ktetors) and with children. An inscription below one of the images glorifies heaven for saving the people of Thessalonica from a pagan Slavic raid in 615.

Thessaloniki became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1430. About 60 years later, during the reign of Bayezid II, the church was converted into a mosque, known as the Kasımiye Camii after the local Ottoman mayor, Cezeri Kasım Pasha. The symbolic tomb however was kept open for Christian veneration. Other magnificent mosaics, recorded as covering the church interior, were lost either during the four centuries when it functioned as a mosque (1493–1912) or in the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 that destroyed much of the city. It also destroyed the roof and upper walls of the church. Black-and-white photographs and good watercolour versions give an idea of the early Byzantine craftsmanship lost during the fire.

Following the Great Fire of 1917, it took decades to restore the church. Tombstones from the city"s Jewish cemetery - destroyed by the Greek and Nazi German authorities - were used as building materials in these restoration efforts in the 1940s. Archeological excavations conducted in the 1930s and 1940s revealed interesting artifacts that may be seen in a museum situated inside the church"s crypt. The excavations also uncovered the ruins of a Roman bath, where St. Demetrius was said to have been held prisoner and executed. A Roman well was also discovered. Scholars believe this is where soldiers dropped the body of St. Demetrius after his execution. After restoration, the church was reconsecrated in 1949.

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