Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Eating
Møn Is
ICE CREAM
(
;
www.moen-is.dk
; Hovgårdsvej 4, Stege; 2 scoops Dkr25;
11am-5pm daily
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
summer, shorter hrs rest of yr)
Ice-cream makers often wax lyrically about 'fresh ingredients', but it doesn't get fresher
than Møn Is, where you can lick in full view of the cows that made it all possible. Flavours
include seasonal fruit sorbets and creamy stunners like liquorice. Although the farm's ad-
dress is in Stege, it's actually 8km southeast of Stege (or 2km southeast of Kelbyville).
THE ELMELUNDE FRESCOES
Several of Møn's churches are covered in beautiful frescoes, so rich and abundant that
the churches can be likened to medieval art galleries. These frescoes were a means of de-
scribing the Bible to illiterate peasants, and their cartoon-like clarity still gets the stories
across today. Scenes run the gamut from light-hearted frolics in the Garden of Eden to
depictions of grotesque demons and the yawning mouth of hell.
After visiting a couple of these churches, you may get a sense of déjà vu. This is be-
cause most of the loveliest 15th-century frescoes were painted by the same artist, whose
exact identity is a mystery but who is known as Elmelundemesteren (the 'Elmelunde
master') after the church of the same name. His people have calm emotionless faces, and
the master's palette is one of distinctive warm earth tones: russet, mustard, sienna, brick
red, chestnut brown and pale aqua.
Møn's church frescoes, created by painting with watercolours on newly plastered, still-
wet walls or ceilings, are some of the best-preserved in Denmark, although their survival
is a lucky fluke. Lutheran ministers thought the frescoes too Catholic and whitewashed
over them in the 17th century. Ironically, this preserved the medieval artwork from soiling
and fading, thanks to a protective layer of dust that separated the frescoes from the
whitewash. The whitewash wasn't removed until the 20th century.
