Ring My Bell

When we arrived in Ringsted, we had a picnic lunch and then toured Saint Bendts church.  Built in 1170 in the Romanesque style, it's the oldest brick church in Scandinavia.  The church has a rich history, having been constructed as part of a Benedictine abbey by the Danish king Valdemar the Great to house the bones of his father, Saint Canute Lavard.  Eleven Danish kings and queens are buried there, second only to the cathedral in Roskilde as a royal burial site.

It was a lovely day, and we were really looking forward to the view from the bell tower.  We were not disappointed.

It was a particular treat for me as our path upwards passed through the attic over two of the rib-vaulted ceilings - I teach about the innovative nature of these kinds of ceilings in my course on technology in the ancient world.  I've never seen one in person before, though, so it was a treat.  The contrast between the highly decorated lower surface and the roughly finished upper one was striking.

For safety reasons the electronic ringer for the bells in the tower is turned off when there are visitors. As a result, when it turned 1:00 PM, someone had to ring the bell.  My team was kind enough to let me do the honors - rather a memorable experience, to say the least.  Too bad it wasn't later in the afternoon so I could have hit the bell more than once.