Kronborg Castle in its present form was built at the end of the 16th century by Frederick II, in love with a young wife - the 37-year-old king married a 14-year-old girl and after a while fell in love. The city of Helsingøre, where the castle is located, is the second in Denmark. Balls and entertainment. Invited troupes of actors, including foreign ones. They believed that the capital of Denmark was here, and not in some Copenhagen. There were also actors from the London Globe (confirmed by documents), they later told Shakespeare about the castle. And he transferred there and into his contemporary era the ancient legend of Hamlet, who, as the Saxon grammarian wrote (if I remember the name correctly), lived before the Vikings.
But it was no coincidence that the city was rich. It was in this place that for more than 500 years the inexhaustible source of Denmark's wealth - the duty from the ships passing by the Sound - beat. Because the width of the strait in this place is only 4 kilometers, cannons shoot through it. The other side was also Danish, Sweden later became independent. And the treasurer of Frederick II figured out how to greatly increase this duty. He was the first to figure out that you can take not a fixed tax from the ship, but a percentage of the cost of goods. And so that the cost is not underestimated - I came up with the right of the first purchase for the king - at the declared price. So the stream began to beat with renewed vigor, helping to recover from the unsuccessful wars that the king fought in his youth. The duty, by the way, was taken until the end of the 19th century. Then the Americans said that it was no longer fashionable, and everyone had guns and they wouldn’t help Denmark. A large one-time fee has been paidRussia and Germany in large quantities, as the main beneficiaries, and the rest of the countries a little. And the freebie ended.
Now the city is still big, there are ferries to Sweden, they are going to dig a tunnel - in addition to the bridge that already exists from Copenhagen. In general, the countries are closely related. The Swedes go to Denmark to work - and what, from the train station to the train station only half an hour. But we did not look at the city, but headed for the castle. Moreover, we got here from Frederiksborg late, and museums close here early, at 16.
The port is very close to the castle.
Promotional video:
And the embankment and the church are visible.
And the castle itself is surrounded by water, everything is as it should be.
At the gate in a small dark cell is a horror story, a deceased prisoner in a cage.
And next to it, in the toilet, an ancient wooden cage was also discovered.
Castle types.
Courtyard.
The style of the castle is very different from Frederiksborg, although it was built by one king - Frederick II. Probably, Frederiksborg was rebuilt more later, since it is much closer to Copenhagen. And here the original restraint has been preserved.
The painting depicts Queen Margaret of Denmark, who united Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Became a ruler in the 14th century. After the death of her father, she persuaded the State Council to approve her son as the heir, although there was still a son of the eldest daughter. Then the son inherited the crown of Norway. Then her son died and she became Queen of Denmark and Norway. And then she supported the feudal lords of Sweden, won the battle and the king of Sweden presented her with the crown - which is shown in the picture.
The Great Hall is the largest knight's hall in Europe, 66 by 12 meters.
And this is a piece of the performance. The hall layout contains dynamic scenes. Lunch, ball.
Tapestries in the hall.
And this is the canopy over the throne. It is here in a temporary exhibition, because the Swedes somehow plundered the castle and took away part of the wealth. Now - they borrowed it for a year and a half. But the colors on it are better preserved.
Waves are visible from the window.
Painting based on Rubens. The king wanted the original, but Rubens did not sell. But he had a student from Denmark who drew an expanded copy - the left side was not in the original. True, the artist overdid it - there are also Danish flags on the ships, it turns out that the Danes are storming their castle
Ceiling.
Church.
There are coats of arms on the seats in the church. Cool.
I go out into the yard again.
There are cannons on the shaft. They still shoot toast on holidays. By the way, the castle once burned from this - from the concussion during intense firing, a crack went, it was filled with lead, and the tree caught fire.
The two ferries met.
Harbor view again.
And this is a local train.
We go to Copenhagen along the sea. On the way we pass the villa where Maria Feodorovna, wife of Alexander III and mother of Nicholas II, lived. She was a Danish princess and her sister was the queen of Greece, and she sent a ship for her to Crimea after the revolution. At first, Maria lived in London, and then she returned to her homeland in Denmark.
The villa is practically on the seashore, and it was just raging, although there was almost no wind.