Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
going out of your way for (no offence to the towns themselves, mind, but we're talking
about the likes of Fredericia, Vejle, Horsens, Skive and Holstebro).
Our advice is pretty straightforward - with limited holiday time, head to the towns with
the most visitor appeal, be it in the form of Viking relics, historic churches or theme parks.
Jelling
Pop 3400
A sleepy town with a big history, Jelling is revered as the birthplace of Christianity in Den-
mark, the monarchy and all that is truly Danish. The town served as the royal seat of King
Gorm during the Vikings' most dominant era; Gorm the Old was the first in a millennium-
long chain of Danish monarchs that continues unbroken to this day. The site of Gorm's an-
cient castle remains a mystery, but other vestiges of his reign can still be found at Jelling
Kirke.
The town is a kind of spiritual touchstone for the Danes, Virtually all of them will visit
at some point, to pay homage at the church, inspect the two rune stones and climb the buri-
al mounds. The area became a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1994.
Sights
Jelling Kirke
CHURCH
(
www.jellingkirke.dk
;
Vejlevej; 8am-8pm May-Aug, to 6pm Sep-Oct & Mar-Apr, to 5pm Nov-Feb)
Inside this small whitewashed church, erected around 1100, are some vividly restored
12th-century
frescoes
; the main attractions, however, are the two well-preserved
rune
stones
just outside the church door.
The smaller stone was erected in the early 10th century by King Gorm the Old in hon-
our of his wife. The larger one, raised by Gorm's son, Harald Bluetooth, is adorned with
the oldest representation of Christ found in Scandinavia and is commonly dubbed 'Den-
mark's baptismal certificate'.
The stone reads: 'King Harald ordered this monument to be made in memory of Gorm
his father and Thyra his mother, the Harald who won for himself all Denmark and Norway
