Roskilde Cathedral

Half an hour from Copenhagen, the twin spires of Roskilde Cathedral rise over a small market town that was once Denmark’s capital. Begun around 1200, it was one of the first great Gothic churches in Northern Europe built of brick, and for six centuries it has been the burial church of Denmark’s kings and queens, who lie in chapels added one after another round its walls. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A brick cathedral and a royal mausoleum

Roskilde was the seat of Danish kings and bishops in the Middle Ages. Earlier churches stood on the site, and tradition says Harald Bluetooth, who died around 986, was buried in one of them. The present brick church was begun around 1200; its choir was consecrated in 1225 and its west towers finished by about 1400, and Christian IV gave them their tall spires in 1635. The oldest certain royal grave is that of Sweyn Estridsen, who died in 1074 or 1076.

About forty kings and queens are buried here. As each dynasty added its own chapels, the cathedral became a gallery of royal tombs in every style, from medieval stone to Renaissance marble, Baroque black coffins and Neoclassical monuments.

The visitor’s cheat sheet

What to see

The nave, the altarpiece and the organ

The long brick nave leads to a gilded altarpiece carved in Antwerp around 1560, with small scenes of the life of Christ. Behind the high altar lies Queen Margrete I, who united Denmark, Norway and Sweden in the Kalmar Union, under an alabaster sarcophagus set up in 1423. The organ, in a gallery partly of the 1400s, was rebuilt in 1554 and 1654 and restored to its 17th-century sound in 1988–91.

The royal chapels

On the south side, the first chapel you reach, the Chapel of the Three Kings, has wall paintings of about 1465 and the Renaissance tombs of Christian III and Frederik II. On the north side, the chapel of Christian IV, the builder king, holds his coffin and those of his family, with large 19th-century paintings of his reign and a bronze statue of him by Bertel Thorvaldsen. Further chapels hold the kings of the 18th to 20th centuries. Queen Margrethe II, who stepped down in 2024, has her own planned tomb in St Bridget’s Chapel, covered until it is needed.

The King’s Pillar

In the Chapel of the Three Kings, a pillar is marked with the heights of royal visitors, measured since the 16th century. The highest mark, for Christian I, stands at 219.5 cm, which is not his true height; Peter the Great’s mark, at 208.5 cm, is thought to date from his visit in 1716.

The clock

High on the wall at the west end, in the tower bay, an old clock of about 1500 has small painted figures on top. On the hour, St George on horseback strikes the dragon, which lets out a howl, and two other figures strike the hours and quarters.

Getting there

The cathedral is at Domkirkepladsen 3 in the centre of Roskilde. Trains from Copenhagen Central Station take about 25 minutes, and almost all trains heading west stop at Roskilde; the walk from the station to the cathedral takes 10 to 15 minutes. The Viking Ship Museum, on the fjord, is a short walk downhill from the cathedral.

Don’t miss

• St George and the dragon On the hour, at the west end.
• The King’s Pillar In the Chapel of the Three Kings.
• Christian IV’s chapel On the north side.
• Margrete I’s tomb Behind the high altar.

Insider tips