The capital of Denmark. Main businesses are linked to the port which is one of the busiest in Northern Europe. The city began as a small fishing village and became the capital of the Kingdom of Denmark in the 17th century. The site was originally a Viking fishing village in the 10th century.
One of the main sights is the Tivoli Gardens which was opened on 15 August 1843. It is the second-oldest amusement park in the world. Owen loved going on the car ride built in 1959 of which he went about 4 or 5 times. Anything with a steering wheel is very desirable.
Next we visited the statue of the Little Mermaid from Hans Christian Andersen in 1913. It was mobbed with people as it is considered one of the most significant attractions of the city. The statue is life-size which has had several instances of vandalism including cutting off pieces or covering in paint. I wasn’t all that impressed.
The brightly colored Nyhavn District is from the 17th century. It was originally where ships would handle cargo and fishermans’ catch and then also the corresponding bars and prostitution in its time. We had a wonderful lunch of local chow.
Frederik's Church is an Evangelical Lutheran church in the center of the city just a short walk from the Nyhavn District. It is of the rococo style which is very ornate with light colors, asymmetrical designs, curves, and gold. Frederick's Church has the largest church dome in Scandinavia with a span of 31m. The dome rests on 12 columns much resembling St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The foundation stone was set in 1749, but the construction was slowed by budget cuts and the death of the architect in 1754. It sat for 150 years incomplete and partially ruined. In 1874 Denmark’s Finance Minister sold the ruins to Carl Tietgen who was a ‘financier and industrialist’ but not for cash but instead the rights to subdivide neighboring land for development. This deal was highly controversial, but was eventually acquitted and the church was finally open to the public in 1894.
Across the main street from Frederik's Church is the Amalienborg Palace which is the home of the Danish royal family with four identical buildings forming an octagonal courtyard. The center of the courtyard has a large equestrian statue of King Frederick V who was the founder of Amalienborg.
We also visited the Christansborg Palace which is the seat of the Danish Parliament, Danish Prime Minister’s Office and the Supreme Court of Denmark. It is the only building in the world that houses all three of a country’s branches of government. Construction started in 1907 and was completed in 1928. However, that site was used many times for castles and palaces with the first being in 1167. It sits in a very prominent location. Copenhagen tower is part of the Christiansborg Palace built during the 1907-1928. The Christiansborg Palace tower is the highest tower in Copenhagen at 106 meters tall. The tower is made from reinforced concrete with granite-clad façade. In 1934 the other two crowns were added because the Minister for the Interior at the time thought the single tower too much resembled the nearby railway station. Then in 1937 the roof tiles were replaced with copper cladding. There was another renovation from 2006-2009 to repair the cladding and underlying reinforced concrete of the roof.
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