Roskilde
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Roskilde | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
 Roskilde Cathedral
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| Country | Denmark |
| Region | Region Sjælland |
| Municipality | Roskilde municipality |
| Center | |
| - coordinates | |
| Population | 44,000 (2004) approx. |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| - summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
| Postal code | 4000 |
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- This article is about the town in Denmark. For the music festival, see Roskilde Festival
Roskilde is the main city in Roskilde municipality, Denmark. Roskilde is an ancient city, dating from the Viking Age. The Roskilde train station is a major stop between Copenhagen and the rest of the country west of the capital. Partly because of this, the city is a center of economics for the region with a central pedestrian street with a myriad of shops, restaurants and cafes running down the center of the city. Several tourist attractions draw visitors from around Denmark and the world, along with an education program inviting international students to attend the local university for a year.
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[edit] Tourist Attractions
[edit] Roskilde Cathedral
The city's early importance is evident from the fact that the Roskilde Cathedral was the only cathedral in Zealand until the 20th century. Built in the 12th and 13th centuries, it was the first Gothic cathedral to be built of brick and its construction encouraged the spread of this style throughout northern Europe. The cathedral is the burial site for Danish monarchs and is a major tourist attraction attracting over 125,000 visitors annually. Since 1995 the cathedral has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A working church, it also hosts concerts throughout the year.
Connected to the church is a palace. Roskilde Palace was built between 1733-36. Built onto of the former location of another palace (that of a former bishop of Roskilde), it is today a museum and residence of the current bishop of Roskilde.[1]
[edit] Viking Ships
Another attraction in the city is the Viking Ship Museum (Vikingeskibsmuseet). The centrepieces of its collection are the well-preserved remains of five Viking ships, excavated from nearby Roskilde Fjord in the late 1960s. The ships were scuttled there in the 11th century to block a navigation channel, thus protecting the city which was then the Danish capital, from seaborne assault. The museum also undertakes research in experimental archaeology centred on Viking shipbuilding and seaworthiness. These five ships represent two distinct classes of Viking Ships. The Longship and Warship. This does not exclude smaller fishing and ferryships, which range from 10 feet (3 m) to 50 feet (15 m). [2]
[edit] Roskilde Festival
Since 1971 the Roskilde Festival, a rock music festival, has been held annually on the fairgrounds near Roskilde. It has grown to become one of the biggest rock/pop festivals in Europe. All profits from this festival are donated to charities. The fairgrounds are also the site of regionally popular agricultural and animal exhibitions, as well as large flea markets. [3]
Roskilde Festival. Retrieved on February 19, 2006.
[edit] Transportation
[edit] Train station
Roskilde has a four platform train station with seven tracks which serves as a central hub connecting southern Zealand, the islands of Falster and Lolland, west Zealand and Jutland to Copenhagen.
It is the oldest train station in Denmark still operating and the first built of stone. The first train arrived from Copenhagen on June 26th, 1847.
[edit] Airport
Built April 1, 1973, Roskilde has a small airport, serving light aircraft for training, taxi and flight instruction. There are existing plans to expand the airport for use by larger aircraft, which are pending an environmental impact assessment. The airport currently handles up to 100,000 operations (flights) per year.
[edit] Schools in Roskilde
There are eleven public primary schools in the municipality split up between eleven school districts, six gymnasiums, offering Upper Secondary School Exit Examinations, Higher Preparatory Examinations, Higher Commercial Examination Programme and Higher Technical Examination Programme. There are many adult education, technical and trade schools outside of the gymnasiums, including one university.
[edit] Roskilde University
In the 20th century, Roskilde became a university city; Roskilde University (Danish: Roskilde Universitetscenter) was founded in 1972. Roskilde University (RUC) is located in a village east of Roskilde called Trekroner. From Roskilde station, Trekroner (literally Three Crowns) is one stop away. RUC hosts students from around the world and has dormitory style housing and apartments close by, however, many students come from Copenhagen to attend RUC.
[edit] VUC
VUC, meaning Voksen Uddannelse Center (Adult Education Center), is a school in the center of Roskilde. Privatized in 2004/2005, it administers several degree programs ranging from 2 year HF (Higher Preparatory Examination (HF)) programs, FVU (Forberedende Voksen Uddannelse: Supplementery Adult Education) classes and AVU (Almen Voksen Uddannelse: Normal Adult Education) classes.
[edit] Roskilde Sprogcenter (Roskilde Language Centre)
Roskilde Sprogcenter is a school for adults who study Danish as a second language. The language centre provides courses for all levels of Danish as well as the certified exams "Prøve i dansk 1"(ALTE level A2- B2), Prøve i dansk 2"(ALTE level B1-B2), "Prøve i dansk 3"(ALTE level B2 - required for citizenship), and "Studieprøven"(ALTE level C1). The school is located just south of the city centre.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Roskilde Domkirke (English version of Danish site)
- Vikingeskibsmuseet (Viking Ship Museum, in Danish)
- Roskilde photos
- Roskilde Festival website (extremely popular music festival)
- Satellite image from WikiMapia
[edit] References
- ^ Slots- og Ejendomsstyelsen - Roskilde Palace - History. Retrieved on February 19, 2006.
- ^ J.S. Illsley (1999). HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE SHIP - LECTURE NOTES. Retrieved on February 19, 2006.
- ^ Roskilde Festival. Retrieved on February 19, 2006.
- Municipal statistics: NetBorger Kommunefakta, delivered from KMD aka Kommunedata (Municipal Data)
- Municipal mergers and neighbors: Eniro new municipalities map
Copenhagen (1,084,900) · Århus (228,700) · Odense (152,100) · Aalborg (121,500) · Esbjerg (71,900) · Randers (55,900) · Kolding (55,000) · Horsens (51,000) · Vejle (49,900) · Roskilde (45,800) · Herning (44,400) · Silkeborg (41,300) · Næstved (41,200) · Greve Strand (41,100) · Hørsholm 37,100 · Fredericia (37,100) · Elsinore (35,100) · Køge (34,500) · Viborg (34,100) · Holstebro (32,000) · Slagelse (31,800) · Taastrup (31,100) · Hillerød (28,900) · Svendborg (27,200) · Sønderborg (27,000)
