Monday, September 20, 2010

Den Gamle By (Arhus, Denmark)

The lyrically sounding Den Gamle By translates as The Old Town. The half-timbered trading houses are part of a superb collection of around 75 historic buildings in the second largest Danish town of Ã…rhus. Presented as an open-air museum and with buildings gathered from all over the country (some nearing 500 years of age), Den Gamle By works as a "living" village with bakers, blacksmiths and grocers capturing the essence of a Danish market town. Furnished to the times, the buildings can be explored highlighting the tougher living conditions of times past. A mayor's house is one of the highlights of this historic town.

While some excellent open-air museums are sprinkled around northern Europe, Den Gamle By started the concept of open-air museums in 1914 and makes for a wonderful travel wonder to explore while in Denmark.

9 comments:

Marina K Villatoro said...

How wonderful! It just became a park of the places I want to visit

Heather on her travels said...

I love this sort of place, especially at holiday times when they usually have people in the old dress working or living in the houses - we visited a similar open air museum near Talin

Mark H said...

@marina: Great spot as is the city itself.

@heather: I also seek out these open air museums. Germany and the Scandy countries do a great job of them.

Sherry Ott said...

Love the concept of open air museums! I haven't been to Denmark yet - but hope to go!

Donna Hull said...

I enjoy open air museums. This one looks lovely. Have you been to the one in Tallinn, Estonia?

Mark H said...

@sherry: I love them too and seek them out. They tend to show sample skills of times past as well and are a wonderful way to preserve older buildings and nation's heritage.

@donna: I've never been to Estonia but I hear great things about their open-air museum.

Anil said...

I love Denmark so much, one of my favorite countries in the world - and you've just given me yet one more reason to visit again :)

Mark H said...

@anil: I'm with you listing Denmark among my faves.

Anonymous said...

Takk for interessant informasjon

 
Related Posts with Thumbnails