Arhus also Aarhus, city, central Denmark, is the capital of Arhus
County, on the Jutland Peninsula and Arhus Bay. It is a seaport and has major
shipbuilding and petroleum-refining industries; other manufactures include
machinery, transportation equipment, processed food, and beer. Arhus became an
Episcopal see in 948 and prospered under a succession of notable Roman Catholic
bishops in the 14th and 15th centuries. It declined after the Reformation (16th
cent.), but it was revived in the 19th century as a shipping and manufacturing
centre. Population 284,846.
Geographically at the heart of the country and often regarded as Denmark's
cultural capital, Arhus typifies all that's good about Danish cities: it's small
enough to get to know in a few hours, yet big and lively enough to fill both
days and nights. The commercial and cultural centre of Jutland, Arhus is a
lively university city with one of Denmark's best music and entertainment
scenes. It has the added attraction of an open-air museum with 75 restored
buildings brought here from around Denmark and reconstructed as a provincial
town.
Despite Viking-era origins, the city's present-day prosperity is due to its
long, sheltered bay, on which the first harbour was constructed during the
fifteenth century, and the more recent advent of railways, which made Arhus a
nationally important trade and transport centre. Easily reached by train from
all the country's bigger towns, and by ferry from Zealand, Arhus also receives
non-stop flights from London. There's certainly no better place for a first
taste of Denmark.
Among the points of interest in the city are Saint Clement's Cathedral, Vor
Frue Church; the Old Town (Den Gamle By), an outdoor museum of medieval
buildings; and the city hall, Arhus University (1928) is in the city.
Arhus divides into two clearly defined parts: the old section, close to the
cathedral, a tight cluster of medieval streets, and, surrounding this, a less
characteristic, modern sector. Sψndergade is the city's main street, a
pedestrian strip that leads down into Bispetorvet and the old centre, the
streets of which form a web around the Domkirke, a massive if plain Gothic
church, most of which dates from the fifteenth century, the original
twelfth-century structure having been destroyed by fire. At the eastern end, the
altarpiece is a grand triptych by the noted Bernt Notkes. Look also at the
painted glass window behind the altar. The area around the cathedral is a
leisurely district of browsable shops and enticing cafés. On Clements
Torv, across the road from the cathedral in the basement under Unibank, the
Viking Museum displays Viking finds, including sections of the original ramparts
and some Viking craftsmen's tools, alongside some informative accounts of early
Arhus. Close by, at Domkirkeplads 5, the Women's Museum stages temporary
exhibitions on many aspects of women's lives and lifestyles past and present.
West along Vestergade, the thirteenth-century Vor Frue Kirke is actually
the site of three churches, most notable of which is the atmospheric
eleventh-century crypt church, discovered beneath several centuries-worth of
rubbish during restoration work on the main church in the 1950s. Look in, also,
at the main church, for Claus Berg's detailed altarpiece, and, through the
cloister remaining from the pre-Reformation monastery, now an old folks' home,
for the medieval frescoes inside the third church, which depict local working
people rather than biblical scenes.
Air Tickets Online -
