Roskilde

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Image:Roskilde domkirke west fassade.jpg

Roskilde is a municipality (Danish, kommune) in Roskilde County 30 km west of Copenhagen on the island of Zealand (Sjælland) in east Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 81 km², and has a total population of 54,372 (2005). Its mayor is Bjørn Dahl, a member of the Venstre (Liberal Party) political party.

It is also the name of the municipality's main city, and the site of its municipal council.

Neighboring municipalities are Greve to the southeast, Høje-Taastrup to the east, Gundsø to the northeast, Lejre to the west, and Ramsø to the south. To the west is Roskilde Fjord.

By January 1, 2007 Roskilde municipality will, as the result of Kommunalreformen ("The Municipality Reform" of 2007), be merged with existing Gundsø and Ramsø municipalities to form the new Roskilde municipality.

1 The city of Roskilde
- 1.1 Tourist Attractions
2 Schools in Roskilde
- 2.1 Roskilde University
3 Transportation
- 3.1 Train station
- 3.2 Airport
4 See also
5 External links
6 References

[edit] The city of Roskilde

Roskilde is an ancient city, and was the capital of Denmark until about 1400, when that role transferred to Copenhagen. 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 walking street (gågade) 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.

[edit] Tourist Attractions

[edit] Roskilde Cathedral

Main article: 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.<ref name="palace">Slots- og Ejendomsstyelsen - Roskilde Palace - History. Retrieved on 2006-02-19.</ref>

[edit] Viking Ships

Image:Roskilde Wiking03.jpg

Another attraction in the city is the Viking Ship Museum (Vikingeskibsmuseet). The centrepieces of its collection are the well-preserved remains of five longships and Warships, 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 to 50 feet. <ref name="ships">J.S. Illsley (1999). HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE SHIP - LECTURE NOTES. Retrieved on 2006-02-19.</ref>

[edit] Roskilde Festival

Image:Roskilde festival 27-6-2003.JPG

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. <ref name="fest">Roskilde Festival. Retrieved on 2006-02-19.</ref>

Roskilde Festival. Retrieved on 2006-02-19.

[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 Coins) 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] Transportation

[edit] Train station

Roskilde has a seven platform train station 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 build of stone. The first train arrived from Copenhagen on June 26th, 1847.Image:Roskilde station 1849.jpg Image:Roskildestation.jpg

[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 assesment. The airport currently handles up to 100,000 operations (flights) per year.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Roskilde

[edit] References

Municipal statistics: NetBorger Kommunefakta, delivered from KMD aka Kommunedata (Municipal Data)
Municipal mergers and neighbors: Eniro new municipalities map