My stay in Denmark and with my friends gave me the opportunity to see a lot of different things. From beautiful beaches to interesting houses and a stunning nature. One of the really amazing places I’ve been to was the Voergaard Slot, Castle Voergaard in North Jutland.
It is on the way back from Skagen, the northernmost spot of Denmark. We nearly passed the entrance and it was more a ”oh, let us see what that is” than planned. So we entered a beautiful alley conducting into a park. No cars there but obviously a public place. Unfortunately all was already closed as we were late in time. But the outside is worth to see!
The very first thing we were impressed were the peacocks. A few males dancing around the females which were the same beauty without the shining blue. They opened the long feather tail and were all but shy. We did a lot of photos and I was sorry not to have a ‘real’ camera. But mine did also a good job I think.
We walked around in the late afternoon sun which gave the whole castle and park a great light. Perfect for a castle feeling, thinking about damsels and knights walking around talking about poetry and the beautiful ladies in great robes listening amazed by the talks of a knight and his adventures in the far countries. I started to dream and could not decide if I would like to be a damsel or better a knight. I think the second…
The castle was built in 1480, owned by different persons and taken over by Skipper Clement, a leader of a peasant rebellion in the Count’s Feud, before confiscated by the Crown in 1536. Later on it has gone in the property of a noblewoman called Ingeborg Skeel. She was a talented business woman who managed her estates by herself. During the centuries the castle lost a lot of land by selling. Only in the late 19th century a politician bought the castle and a lot of the original lands back. The last owner was a Danish noble by marriage who bought a great art collection from his deceased wife, a French noblewoman. Today it’s open to the public since 1963 after the death of the last owner.
The beautiful two-winged and L-shaped castle is built in red brick, perfectly matching with the nature surrounding it. It has a Renaissance style. The two octagonal towers give the building a great shape. The mot around gives the castle an ancient look and it seems there are still living noblemen in.
We stayed for a while, sitting at the shore of the mot, listening to the birds and the peace and admiring the beauty of the place. Sometimes it’s so good to ‘divert’ from where you in first place want to go….
Castle Voergaard, Jutland/Denmark:
For further information:
The Voergaard Castle website
H, read a bit there on the Counts Feud, its interesting but it does not give much detail for the reasons for the peasant revolt, I suspect abuse and politics. Some initial success but ultimate failure resulting in the betrayal and horrible death of Klemen Andersen. The looks fantastic.
Don, thanx for that additional details. I didn’t read about that.