Roskilde - City of Denmark

Roskilde is the main city in Roskilde Municipality, Denmark on the island of Zealand. It is an ancient city, dating from the Viking Age.

Roskilde train station is a major stop between Copenhagen and the region of Denmark located to its west. The city is an economic center for the region.

Roskilde has a pedestrian street with myriad shops, restaurants, and cafes running down the center of the city. Several tourist attractions draw visitors from around Denmark and the world. The local university has an education program that invites international students to attend for a year.

According to Adam of Bremen and Saxo Grammaticus, in the 980s, Harald I of Denmark built a church and a royal estate in Roskilde. Saxo Grammaticus associates the name Roskilde with the legendary King Roar who possibly lived there in the 6th century. Harald was buried at the church which is on the same site as today's Roskilde Cathedral.

The town suffered from plague, wars with the Swedes and a number of devastating fires in the 17th century but began to recover in the 18th century with the opening of the railway from Copenhagen in 1847. More recently, with the establishment of the Viking Ship Museum in 1969, Roskilde has been recognised as a cultural and educational centre with the first Roskilde Festival in 1971 and the university centre which opened 1972.

Another attraction in the city is the Viking Ship Museum . The centrepieces of its collection are the well-preserved remains of five Viking ships, excavated from nearby Roskilde Fjord in the late 1960s. The ships were scuttled there in the 11th century to block a navigation channel, thus protecting the city which was then the Danish capital, from seaborne assault. The museum also undertakes research in experimental archaeology centred on Viking shipbuilding and seaworthiness. These five ships represent two distinct classes of Viking Ships. The Longship and Warship.

There are eleven public primary schools in the municipality split up between eleven school districts, six gymnasiums, offering Upper Secondary School Exit Examinations, Higher Preparatory Examinations, Higher Commercial Examination Programme and Higher Technical Examination Programme. There are many adult education, technical and trade schools outside of the gymnasiums, including one university.

In the 20th century, Roskilde became a university city; Roskilde University (Danish: Roskilde Universitetscenter, RUC) was founded in 1972. Roskilde University is located in the eastern side of Roskilde in a neighborhood called Trekroner . From Roskilde station, Trekroner is one train stop away. RUC hosts students from around the world and through its Student Council has created the International Club RUC to create connections between the university's Danish and international students. RUC also has on-campus dormitory style housing and apartments, however, many students commute from Copenhagen to attend RUC.