The four palaces
Identical rococo around an octagonal square.
Janeway666 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Tony Webster — CC BY 2.0 · Peter Elfelt — Public domain · Frederikke Lett — CC BY-SA 3.0
Amalienborg is the Danish royal family's actual home — Europe's oldest continuous monarchy: four identical rococo palaces (1750s) around an octagonal square centred on King Frederik V on horseback, King Frederik X and Queen Mary genuinely living in two of them — the flag above the palace tells you whether the king is home. Its most famous rite is the Royal Guard's daily changing at noon: guards in black bearskin hats march from Rosenborg Castle across the city (11:30) to reach the square at twelve exactly, with military music if the king is in residence — a free hour's show the whole city attends. One of the four palaces is an enterable museum: the royal apartments of the 19th and 20th centuries as left, with their desks, stoves and the recesses of daily life — the home, not the palace. And the square itself is the harbour walk's hinge: Nyhavn behind you, the Mermaid ahead.
Identical rococo around an octagonal square.
The guard marches from Rosenborg at 11:30.
Amalienborg Slotsplads, 1257 Copenhagen
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