Today, Roskilde is perhaps better known for its annual music festival, but the city holds historical significance for Denmark, as it was the capital from the 10th to the 15th century. In the city centre stands a Romanesque-Gothic cathedral from the 12th/13th century, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Read more
At the end of the last Ice Age, which shaped Norway’s landscape so uniquely, the country began to be settled 10,000 years ago. From the south, the first people soon pushed northwards and inland, always following the retreating glaciers. In the climatically more favourable fjord valleys, larger tribes soon developed. Their close relationship with the sea led to the development of shipbuilding skills, which formed the basis of the Vikings’ reputation as successful seafarers and fierce conquerors. With their ocean-going longships, the Norsemen unsuccessfully attempted to conquer England, but during their raids, they sailed up Central European rivers far into the continent and even sailed to North America multiple times, thus being in the “New World” centuries before its official discovery by Columbus.
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