The Cultural Route is a pleasant walk that takes you through four public gardens, across two squares and two smaller plazas. Along the way, you will encounter works by well-known artists as well as more unexpected pieces, inviting reflection and new perspectives on the city.

The text in this guide was written by Mogens Petersen, art communicator and former chairman of Lejre Art Association and the Visual Arts Council of Lejre Municipality.

The Library Garden – Effort commun

You may begin your walk at the new main entrance to Roskilde Library on the southern side, in the Library Garden. Here stands the sculpture Effort commun, meaning “striving for community”. The bronze sculpture was created in 1963 by the artist Sonja Ferlov Mancoba. The work depicts the forces that connect living beings and give them strength.

Algade 31 – the gable mural

Continuing along Klosterstien, you pass Roskilde Monastery on your right, while to the left a beautiful garden opens up with a landscaped space at the entrance to the Children’s House at Algade 31. The gable of the neighbouring building is decorated with a large mural. The motif is inspired by the nuns and monks who once cultivated medicinal herbs in the monastery garden, but it also contains many references to contemporary life. The mural was created by Mie Mørkeberg and unveiled in 2019.

St Ols Square – Ragnarok and Stub

Continue past the monastery and the car park along St Ols Stræde, which leads you to St Ols Square. Created in 2014–15, the square forms a cohesive design that links the main entrance of Roskilde Museum with the busy pedestrian life of Algade, the city’s main street. This connection is expressed through the sculpture Stub by Søren Schaarup (2016), from which a spring emerges and flows towards the sculpture Ragnarok by Bjørn Nørgaard (2011).

Around the museum entrance, the striking tiled façade designed by artist Peter Brandes acts as a visual backdrop to the scene.

Peter Brandes, Bjørn Nørgaard and Roskilde Cathedral

Continuing straight along Domkirkestræde, you reach the northern side of Roskilde Cathedral, an area with fewer visitors. Just before the chapel building that houses the Chapel of King Christian IX, two stained-glass windows can be seen high up on the cathedral wall. The window on the left was designed by Peter Brandes and leads into St Andrew’s Chapel, which he decorated in 2010.

The window on the right leads into St Benedict’s Chapel. The chapel contains a sculpture that is currently concealed and will only be unveiled when Queen Margrethe II’s coffin is placed in the crypt beneath the chapel. Created by Bjørn Nørgaard, the work consists of a so-called “glass body” standing on three elephants at the top of a stepped sculptural structure.

Burial site with an open view of the fjord

Following the cathedral wall around the corner, the outdoor royal burial site comes into view. It was King Frederik IX’s wish to be buried outdoors with a view of the fjord. The king died in 1972, but the burial site was not completed until 1985, as part of a redesign of Cathedral Square. The brickwork was designed by architects Johannes and Inger Exner, the bronze gate by artist Sven Havsteen-Mikkelsen, and the gravestone in Greenlandic granite by sculptor Erik Heide.

PAR in the Latin Garden – the end of the Cultural Route

Cross Cathedral Square past Roskilde Gymnasium and walk down Bondetinget. Through a gateway, turn left into the Latin Garden, which marks the end of the Cultural Route. The garden contains four artworks; here, only the white sculpture on the corner of the Latin Garden and Karen Olsdatter Stræde is mentioned.

The sculpture, entitled PAR, was installed in 2017 and created by Jørgen Boberg, who was born in 1940 and grew up in Roskilde. He is best known as a painter, particularly for his portraits of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik. A portrait of former Bishop Bertil Wiberg hangs in Roskilde Cathedral, and a portrait of the city’s former mayor, Henrik Christiansen, hangs in the town hall on Køgevej. Roskilde Art Association honoured Jørgen Boberg on his 50th birthday in 1990 with an exhibition, and the artist was commemorated once again in 2010, a year after his death, with an exhibition at Kunsthuset Palæfløjen in the Yellow Palace.

Would you like to experience the entire Cultural Route with a guide?

It is possible to arrange a private guided tour with Mogens Petersen lasting approximately one and a half hours. The walk through the Cultural Route in central Roskilde includes four gardens, two small plazas and two squares, together presenting all 20 artworks along the route.

For further information about a guided tour:
Please contact Mogens Petersen