Monday 23 July 2012

The 6 day trip to Denmark and the United Kingdom - the morning of the third day - Helsingor, Kronborg Slot (cont.) - the 21st of June 2012




(...)

We bought ourselves a ticket that gave us access to the Castle Royal apartments, the Castle Church and the Casemates.

We soon learned that the Castle originally built by Erik of Pomerania in the early fifteenth century was remodelled by Frederic II and then later by Christian IV, following a catastrophe during his reign when it was burnt down in 1629. 


Our visit started precisely with a film, which  re-enacted that fire, prior to having been introduced to the chambers refurbished and richly decorated by King Christian IV thereafter.


















The King's chamber had round ceiling paintings and four large ones depicting scenes from the ancient Greek romance commissioned from the Dutch painter Gerrit van Honthorst of Utrecht.





















The Ballroom, one of the largest Royal Halls in Northern Europe, was  decorated with  a series of large paintings from the History of Denmark, which made it look very "distinct".















Tapestries with portraits of Danish Kings woven in wool and silk could be seen hanging in the "Little Hall" and these I must say were very impressive. Impressive were the four-poster beds, one of which installed in one of Frederik V's Chambers.
































The King's  Cabinet and the Marshall's hall were  rather impressive, particularly because of the pieces of furniture, that decorated them.















The last chamber we visited was  the Duchess of Mecklenburg's with an impressive  painting  "Allegory of the Sound" painted by Isaac Isaacsz based on a painting by Peter Paul Rubens but set in Helsinore with Krongberg in the background.





The fact that Shakespeare wrote his famous tragedy about Hamlet, Prince of Denmark around 1600 and set the play at Kronborg ensured its fame worldwide ... and in 2000 Kronborg  was added to UNESCO's  cultural and natural heritage list.








































(to be continued)









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