In order to fully enjoy this visit, we need to start by making a big jump back in time, namely to when Christian IV was the king of Denmark, and not only that. He rules over Denmark and Norway for 52 years. Thanks to this information you will infer that he lived a long life, at least considering the period when he lived. We are talking about the second half of the Sixteenth century and the first of the Seventeenth century. In this latter period of time Copenhagen took the first real steps to get rid of its fame. It was known for being a medieval, old-fashioned, dark and dirty town. Christian IV himself is credited with adapting and beautify the Danish capital according to the most modern principles of the European Renaissance. Among other projects, he took care of building new fortifications, which did not consist of old defence walls, but of a modern system made of mounds of earth, ramparts, and moats. A striking example is Christianshavn, whose first draft project was realised in 1617 by the Dutch engineer Johan Semp. This did not only consist of a defence system, but also of a completely new district between the old town and Amager island. Out visit will take place right here, in Christianshavn, which, as its name tells, it was founded as “Christian’s (IV) harbour”. We will walk among bright colours old seventeenth-century houses and down narrow cobbled streets. We will see sail boats moored as well as private house boats. You will be surprised by the winding staircase of a charming spire and we will enter in a quite curious house. Besides all this, we will also focus on the modern history, in particular on that time in the ‘70s when a part of Christianshavn was occupied by a group of people who led to the foundation of the Freetown Christiania. We will enter a reality which is as safe (despite some false rumours) and lively as the rest of Copenhagen, but it definitely preserves a unique atmosphere. In order to discover the world around Christiania, we will talk about counterculture of the 1960s, flower children, anarcho-pacifist ideologies, social experiments, marijuana use and we will learn how to move among it many streets and bizarre activities.
The technical itinerary may undergo changes in order to improve the guided experience. In addition, specific stops at the several sites of interest (museums, shops, showrooms, galleries, churches) - where expected - are subject to availability on the day and time of the visit. The chronological order of visits may be changed even at the last moment if circumstances require it, while maintaining the contents of the program unchanged.
