Odense afternoon · Christiansfeld

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Odense

   Odense is best known as the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen, born in 1805 in a poor part of town, and his story is the thread that runs through the place. The museum dedicated to him occupies several old houses in the centre of the old quarter, with yellow walls and cobbled lanes that have been tidied to look like a fairy-tale street. The tales, which include The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling, were written long after he left, but the city has made a very good job of claiming him. The town's name goes back to the Viking age, and it means Odin's shrine, which tells you how old the settlement is.

   Read the complete Odense write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Odense is where the day begins. Next is Trelleborg.

2. 2. Trelleborg

   In the late tenth century, on the western coast of Zealand, King Harald Bluetooth built a fortress that must have looked to its neighbours like a statement written in earth. Trelleborg is a perfect circle, about a hundred and thirty metres across, ringed by a high rampart with four gates facing the compass points, and inside, sixteen long houses are arranged in four neat blocks around a central crossing, like a plan drawn with a compass and ruler. Archaeologists dated the timbers to around the 980s, and the same geometry turns up at other Danish fortresses, at Fyrkat in Jutland and Aggersborg by the Limfjord, which suggests a royal building programme under a single mind.

   Read the complete Trelleborg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Trelleborg comes up about 69 km into the recorded legs. Next is Moravian Church Settlements.

3. 3. Moravian Church Settlements

   Christiansfeld is a town designed on a drawing board, and it still looks like it. It was founded in 1773 by the Moravian Church, the Brethren, a Protestant community from Bohemia and Saxony that had its centre at Herrnhut, and it was laid out on a strict grid around a central square, with a church at its heart. The houses are built of yellow brick, with red tile roofs, and they stand in neat rows with a gentle uniformity that has survived two and a half centuries. In 2015 the town was added to the World Heritage list.

   Read the complete Moravian Church Settlements write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   At least about 224 km into the recorded legs you reach Moravian Church Settlements. Next is Christiansfeld.

4. 4. Christiansfeld

   Christiansfeld is a town that was planned on a drawing board by religious refugees, and it looks like it. In 1773 the Moravian Church, a Protestant brotherhood from Bohemia and Saxony, founded the settlement on land granted by the Danish king Christian VII, and laid it out with strict geometry: a central square, straight streets, identical yellow-brick houses with red-tile roofs, and a plain white church at the centre. UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site in 2015, and the unity of the architecture is startling, a whole town that feels like a single idea.

   Read the complete Christiansfeld write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Christiansfeld, about halfway. Next is back through Moravian Church Settlements.

5. 5. back through Moravian Church Settlements

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Moravian Church Settlements write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Moravian Church Settlements sits at 303 km, about halfway. Next is back through Trelleborg.

6. 6. back through Trelleborg

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Trelleborg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Trelleborg comes up about 381 km into the recorded legs. Next is Odense.

7. 7. Odense

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Odense write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Odense closes the day.