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Home Page > Travelogues > Denmark > Copenhagen > Christiansborg and Nyhavn
Other Chapters in the
Copenhagen
section:
The third and final chapter on Copenhagen concerns
the government and royal district that follows along the canal toward the
Kastellet. It
The first photograph shows the front of the Christianborg Palace, my first stop
after having left the Strøget
downtown. It was the third iteration of the palace, most
recently rebuilt in 1928 (see Note below). The photograph only captures a
small part of the structure, which was built in a U-shaped box much like
Versailles in Paris or King Ludwig II's
Herrenchiemsee in
The next structure I visited was a block away -- the Danish Stock Exchange,
shown in the second photograph. Choosing the best shot for this structure
was difficult. This building was incredibly beautiful with so much
sculpture and character all over. The shape was akin to the triangular
form of a market building, but as the photograph plainly shows, this was no
ordinarily building. However, the most striking part of the building was
not visible in this shot. That was the center tower -- a tall spike that
was formed like four ropes
Within a short distance, I found the Nyhavn, shown in the third photograph. The Nyhavn (new harbor) was a short dead-end canal directly connected to the main river. At roughly a half-mile long, the canal was quite large and full of old restored or replica ships docked along both sides. The row houses were a rainbow of colors, and each one of them hosted a cafe, restaurant, or bar on the ground floor and a lot of them had umbrellas out on the sidewalk to provide thirty customers with some shade.
And oh, were there a lot of cust
The next stop on the tour was the royal winter residence, the Amalienborg Plads,
shown in the fourth photograph. This was truly a fanstastic complex with
four nearly identical palaces occupying opposing ends of a large circle.
The statue in the photograph was in the center. I approached the grounds
through one of the archways in between the palaces. There, I encountered
one of the royal guards, decked out in a navy blue jacket with light blue pants,
a white X belt across his chest (reminiscent of the British redcoats)
The next stop was the nearby Amaliehavn, the city's main passenger harbor. On the way, I encountered a huge Romanesque church whose huge dome reminded me of the Capitol in Washington. I then reached the entrance path toward the water, where I saw one of those odd modern sculptures around a fountain -- this of four pillars that appeared to have been rotting away. Like most modern sculptures, I didn't understand it. But, anyhow, I reached the waterfront, where I took a shot of a typical passenger vessel ready to head out to sea (see the fifth photograph). I entered the passenger terminal and wandered around the public areas, getting a feel for where folks could go by boat. I found that cruises were a popular mode of transportation. It was from there that I returned the strand and moved toward the Kastellet. In the surrounding area, there were other canals that hosted tour boats much like those in Bruges or Amsterdam. They too were full of revelers enjoying the sunny day. Without question, the part of this tour that I would have loved to spend more time in was the Amalienborg Museum. Even without the exhibits, royal palaces tended to be simply awesome to walk through. Next would have been to see the Nyhavn with a typical easy-going crowd vice the densely packed soccer crowd (not that I minded the crowd). Certainly, for the architecture and atmosphere, this part of Copenhagen was difficult to beat.
Other Chapters in the
Copenhagen
section:
Note: Some information about the Christianborg Palace and other structures in this district from the Danish Ministry of Finanace website of the Castles and Properties Agency. Trip taken 6-7 October 2001 -- Page Last Updated 11 September 2006 -- (C) 2001, 2006 Tom Galvin |
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includes
the city's most majestic structures -- massive palaces, gorgeous government
buildings, and the much-loved and photographed inland harbor, the Nyhavn.
Because it was well away from the main shopping and tourism areas, I found
myself pretty much alone wandering these areas, which was welcome after spending
so much time around all the soccer fans. But to casual visitors with a
little extra time on their hands, I would recommend going out there. It
was fabulous to see.
eastern Bavaria. Unlike the others, however, the Christiansborg was very
much in use, as the current seat of the Danish Parliament. Consequently,
it didn't retain much in the way of palace gardens and the like. However,
because it was a day off, I was allowed to walk through portions of the palace
ordinarily available to the public, and indeed it was beautiful on the inside.
There was a small garden outside, but the utility of the structure clearly took
precedence.
wound
around each other. The top of the spike had small Danish flags hanging on
tiny flagpoles. I simply could not get it and the beautiful Neptune statue
in the same shot. I soon left the government district, passing a church
and the Danish Royal Theater along the way. The Theater was a particularly
striking yellow brick structure with roman columns. 
omers.
The Nyhavn was even more crowded than the Strøget,
and just about the whole crowd was part of the soccer craze. A small stage
was constructed off to the left where a DJ was playing rock music and the
occasional Danish fight song. Everyone was just having a good time, there
was no rowdiness, but there sure were a heck of a lot of beer bottles all over
the place! Anyhow, I decided not to stick around too long.
and
sporting one of those huge black poofy hats. The palace museum were
unfortunately not open to the public while I was there, so after a full tour of
the circle, I continued on.
