Roskilde/post reform

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Roskilde is the main city in Roskilde municipality, Denmark. Roskilde is an ancient city and was the capital of Denmark until about 1400, when that role transferred to Copenhagen. The Roskilde train station is a major stop between Copenhagen and the rest of the country west of the capital. Partly because of this, the city is a center of economics for the region with a central walking street (gågade) with a myriad of shops, restaurants and cafes running down the center of the city. Several tourist attractions draw visitors from around Denmark and the world, along with an education program inviting international students to attend the local university for a year.

Contents 1 Tourist Attractions 1.1 Roskilde Cathedral 1.2 Viking Ships 1.3 Roskilde Festival 2 Transportation 2.1 Train station 2.2 Airport 3 Schools in Roskilde 3.1 Roskilde University 3.2 VUC 4 See also 5 External links 6 References

[edit] Tourist Attractions

[edit] Roskilde Cathedral

The city's early importance is evident from the fact that the Roskilde Cathedral was the only cathedral in Zealand until the 20th century. Built in the 12th and 13th centuries, it was the first Gothic cathedral to be built of brick and its construction encouraged the spread of this style throughout northern Europe. The cathedral is the burial site for Danish monarchs and is a major tourist attraction attracting over 125,000 visitors annually. Since 1995 the cathedral has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A working church, it also hosts concerts throughout the year.

Connected to the church is a palace. Roskilde Palace was built between 1733-36. Built onto of the former location of another palace (that of a former bishop of Roskilde), it is today a museum and residence of the current bishop of Roskilde.^[1]

[edit] Viking Ships

Another attraction in the city is the Viking Ship Museum (Vikingeskibsmuseet). The centrepieces of its collection are the well-preserved remains of five longships and Warships, excavated from nearby Roskilde Fjord in the late 1960s. The ships were scuttled there in the 11th century to block a navigation channel, thus protecting the city which was then the Danish capital, from seaborne assault. The museum also undertakes research in experimental archaeology centred on Viking shipbuilding and seaworthiness. These five ships represent two distinct classes of Viking Ships. The Longship and Warship. This does not exclude smaller fishing and ferryships, which range from 10 feet to 50 feet. ^[2]

[edit] Roskilde Festival

Since 1971 the Roskilde Festival, a rock music festival, has been held annually on the fairgrounds near Roskilde. It has grown to become one of the biggest rock/pop festivals in Europe. All profits from this festival are donated to charities. The fairgrounds are also the site of regionally popular agricultural and animal exhibitions, as well as large flea markets. ^[3]

Roskilde Festival. Retrieved on 2006-02-19.

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Train station

Roskilde has a seven platform train station which serves as a central hub connecting southern Zealand, the islands of Falster and Lolland, west Zealand and Jutland to Copenhagen.

It is the oldest train station in Denmark still operating and the first build of stone. The first train arrived from Copenhagen on June 26th, 1847

[edit] Airport

Built April 1, 1973, Roskilde has a small airport, serving light aircraft for training, taxi and flight instruction. There are existing plans to expand the airport for use by larger aircraft, which are pending an environmental impact assesment. The airport currently handles up to 100,000 operations (flights) per year.

[edit] Schools in Roskilde

[edit] Roskilde University

In the 20th century, Roskilde became a university city; Roskilde University (Danish: Roskilde Universitetscenter) was founded in 1972. Roskilde University (RUC) is located in a village east of Roskilde called Trekroner. From Roskilde station, Trekroner (literally Three Crowns) is one stop away. RUC hosts students from around the world and has dormitory style housing and apartments close by, however, many students come from Copenhagen to attend RUC.

[edit] VUC

VUC, meaning Voksen Uddannelse Center (Adult Education Center), is a school in the center of Roskilde. Privatized in 2004/2005, it administers several degree programs ranging from 2 year HF (Higher Preparatory Examination (HF)) programs, FVU (Forbedring Voksen Uddannelse:Supplementery Adult Education) classes and AVU (Almindlige Voksen Uddannelse:Normal Adult Education) classes.

[edit] See also

• Treaty of Roskilde
• Roskilde Festival

[edit] External links

• Roskilde Domkirke (English version of Danish site)
• Vikingeskibsmuseet (Viking Ship Museum, in Danish)
• Roskilde photos
• Roskilde Festival website (extremely popular music festival)

[edit] References

1. ^ Slots- og Ejendomsstyelsen - Roskilde Palace - History. Retrieved on 2006-02-19.
2. ^ J.S. Illsley (1999). HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE SHIP - LECTURE NOTES. Retrieved on 2006-02-19.
3. ^ Roskilde Festival. Retrieved on 2006-02-19.

• Municipal statistics: NetBorger Kommunefakta, delivered from KMD aka Kommunedata (Municipal Data)
• Municipal mergers and neighbors: Eniro new municipalities map

25 biggest cities of Denmark (with number of inhabitants according to Statistics Denmark [1])

Copenhagen (1,086,800) | Århus (228,500) | Odense (145,600) | Aalborg (121,500) | Esbjerg (72,600) | Randers (55,700) | Kolding (54,900) | Vejle (49,900) | Horsens (49,700) | Roskilde (44,200) | Næstved (40,500) | Silkeborg (38,500) | Fredericia (37,100) | Elsinore (35,000) | Køge (33,600) | Viborg (33,200) | Holstebro (31,800) | Slagelse (31,800) | Herning (29,900) | Hillerød (28,100) | Svendborg (27,600) | Sønderborg (27,000) | Hjørring (24,800) | Holbæk (24,300) | Frederikshavn (24,200)

Coordinates: 55°39′N 12°05′E