Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Absalon established a Cistercian monastery in Sorø in 1161 and had this church built in
the grounds to serve as a family mausoleum. In a display cabinet to the right of the altar
are the ivory crosier, gold-and-sapphire ring and silver chalice with which he was buried
(extracted from his tomb in the 19th century).
Keeping Absalon company are kings Valdemar IV, Christopher II and Oluf III. Queen
Margrethe I, the architect of the 1397 Kalmar Union, was buried here as well, but her re-
mains were later transferred to
Roskilde Domkirke
. At the end of the left aisle is the
marble sarcophagus of the great comic poet and playwright Ludvig Holberg.
The church's grand interior includes a 6m-high 16th-century crucifix by Odense
sculptor Claus Berg, carved from a single piece of wood, and a beautifully detailed
baroque altar and pulpit. The 16th-century organ is the centrepiece of the Sorø Internation-
al Music Festival.
Sorø Akademi
HISTORIC BUILDING
After the Reformation, Frederik II decreed that Sorø's monastery should be turned into a
school. In 1623, his successor, Christian IV, developed it into the Sorø Academy of
Knights, an elite establishment dedicated to the education of the sons of the nobility.
Lessons included the art of hunting, behaviour and manners - skills fitting to a noble dip-
lomat.
Although its intake is a little less exclusive these days, Sorø Akademi remains a promin-
ent Danish school and visitors are welcome to stroll through the extensive grounds.
The southern end of Sorø's main street, Storgade, leads directly to the academy via
Klosterporten
(
)
, a medieval gate that once cloistered the monks
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
from the outside world.
Other medieval monastery buildings were replaced with Renaissance structures -
porten, also dates from the reign of Christian IV and now houses the library.
(1684-1754), who rescued the school after a financial crisis forced it to close, can be
