Helsingor is about 40 minutes or so from Copenhagen and is the home of Kronborg Castle. Shakespeare's Hamlet was set in Helsingor and Kronborg is known as Hamlet's castle. The castle has for centuries been one of the most important Renaissance castles in Norther Europe and was added to UNESCO's World Heritage Sites list in 2000.
The castle is on the extreme tip of Zealand at the narrowest point of the Oresund, the sound between Denmark and Sweden. In this part, the sound is only 4km wide, hence the strategic importance of maintaining a fortress at this location.
After seeing many castles now, I officially do not pay entry to see the inside of castles. The beauty for me now is more of the outside. However, the interesting part of Kronborg is that it is a fortress with casemates. A casemate is a "fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired, originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress". Underground where the casemates are is what is to be seen at Kronborg. During battle, solidiers would live in the underground part of the castle and food and weapons were stored here for easy access.
Photos:
1-3 - Views of the outside of the sprawling castle
4: Me in the ballroom
5 - Statue of Ogier the Dane, who, according to legend, slumbers here until the day Denmark is in grave danger, at which time he will arise and save the nation
6 - My classmate Sujay (India) who went castle exploring with me in front of a huge door
7 - The coastline was amazing...rocky and crashing waves
8 - Me and some funny statues outside of the castle
9 - On the ship to Helsingborg, Sweden (less than a 30 minute ferry ride)
10 - Me with Helsingborg in the background
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