Sankt Knud's Kirke

Sankt Knuds Kirke
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After Jacob, Heidi, and I left the shopping district on  Vestergade.  That's the name of the street in Odense where you can do all your shopping.  It's more like a pedestrian street with cafe's and shops.  A very nice area, with plenty of shade and friendly people.

Not long into walking we came across Sankt Knud's Kirke (Saint Knud's Church).  I have never seen a huge church like this before.  I was amazed by the sight of it.  So, I had to see the inside.  Now.  I heard and read on the internet that the remains of, I guess, the first king of Denmark and his brother has their remains somewhere in the church.  First king or a king.  And I also read that the clergy doesn't like for anyone to get close to the remains, or for anyone to take pictures.  Now, after hearing this I was on a mission.

I soon took a few pictures, looked around for the clergy and to my amazment I thought...

Grand Hallway
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When you first enter the church foyer you see plaques on the walls of all the bishops of that church and of Odense dating back as far as the year 988 A.C.  You also see an open door to your right.  The next thing you see is a grand hallway with pillars.  At the end of this hallway you see a crypt guarded by a black wrought iron fence and gold text.  In the middle of the church inside you see a grand isle with pews on either side.  Down this isle you will see a huge gold altar piece and some stairs leading up to it.  Then, if you turn around to see the back walls and then look up you will see a grand pipe organ on the wall.  All these sights are so amazing but, I still want to see the remains of the dead king.

Crypt
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After seeing these awesome sights Jacob, Heidi and I went to check out the crypt I had mentioned.  Could this be where the remains are?  If so all I see is two huge, elaborate, decorated coffins and knights armor behind a black wrought iron fence.  Very nicely done, but after a translation by Jacob we found out that this wasn't the king or his brother.  Actually I forgot who Jacob said it was.

Next to the crypt, to the left is a stair case that went down to another room.  Ah!  Look what we found.  The remains of the king, Saint Knud and his brother Benedikt in a nice sized room.  Now.  After hearing about how hard it is to get close to the remains, and how hard it is to take pictures, I was determined to do so.  The thought kept running through my mind.  I soon took a few pictures, looked around for the clergy and to my amazement I thought..."Damn that was easy", and "Am I the first traveler to accomplish this mission?"  Hmmm....

Sankt Knud's remains
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After taking pictures of the remains we went back upstairs to finish looking at the church.  I noticed some concrete slabs with writing on them.  Jacob read them for me.  Once again...learn Danish, it'll help.  Jacob said that under those slabs in the church are the remains of the rich, wealthy and noble's of Odense.  There are quite a few of these slabs, and I regret not taking some pictures.  But, I still feel like the clergy men were going to take my camera after snapping pictures of the dead king and his brother.

Benedikt
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Before we left the beautiful church I found an area where you can buy a candle.  I gave 20 kroner ($2.00 US) for the candle.  I am so generous.  And lit it for our troops in Iraq.  My prayers and good wishes go out to them!

After leaving the church we walked around the grounds.  Behind the church is a nice park.  In the park we saw a bridge, small lake, a nice garden covered by a trellis, and another statue of Hans Christian Andersen.  In the lake is another sculpture.  The sculpture is of a paper origami boat in honor of H. C. Andersen. It was a very nice day so we relaxed a little in the park to give Heidi a break.  She is very pregnant and a real good sport to walk all over Denmark.  About 30 minutes past, we left the park and when doing so we found a statue of Sankt Knud himself.  Well, onward to see more in downtown Odense.