Skagen is a relatively small old seaside (fishing) village that has been there for centuries. It's actually the northernmost town in Denmark, at the top end of the Jutland peninsula. The first building there dated to the 12th century, and St. Lawrence's Church was built in the 14th century (more on that in my next post).
This area a narrow peninsula, and to a large extent, formed of sand. Some of the area has trees and other plants that were grown to help stabilize the sand dunes that are under just about everything on the peninsula. In fact, there is a migrating sand dune there called Råbjerg Mile (more on that in my next post).
My first excursion of the day (my friend wasn't feeling well) was to Voergaard Castle. This is an L-shaped castle, with the oldest part having been built in the 14th century. The latest part is the Renaissance Wing, which was completed in 1590. One of the most interesting owners of the castle was Ingeborg Skeel, who owned it from the late 16th century until her death in 1604. There are many legends surrounding her, including stories of her as greedy and miserly, saying she enticed ships to run aground and then killed survivors and seized the what was left of the ship and cargo, of mistreating people, and having actually drowned the builder Philip Brandin in the castle's moat. Based on what I saw, heard, and read, none of this is verified, and there are also stories of her being extremely charitable. In any case however, she was an interesting character!
Photos are not allowed inside the building (after a theft a number of years ago, so I have included pictures that are from postcards. I do have pictures of the outside and grounds, shown below:
Castle
Grounds:
Dungeons
As I mentioned above, we were not allowed to take pictures in side. I have taken some pictures from postcards I purchased as well as from a guidebook I purchased to show some of the things we saw. Most of the rooms were not huge, although the dining and knight's hall were. There are antique Asian pieces, Louis XIV and Louis the XVI pieces, pieces from the Vatican, from famous painters, from the Bastille - just on and on and on. An amazing treasure trove, brought in by Count E. Oberbech-Clausen. He was born in Norway, and lived in France as a young man where he worked as the manager of a vinyard. He married the widow of the owner of the vinyard after converting to Catholicism, and was appointed a Roman Count himself. The main part of the art collection comes from the families of his wife and her first husband. The Count renovated the castle. On the death of his wife, he created a trust to maintain Voergaard and the art collection for future generations, and on his death the castle became open to the public.
From inside the castle - some captions. For those pictures that aren't, they are (in order) Ingeborg's study, the Goya painting "The Madman", two views of the Golden Salon, The Chapel, and a one side of the Dining Room.
More on the day and the remainder of the trip in my next post.
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