Christiansø

About this place

Christiansø is the largest island of the small Ertholmene archipelago in the Baltic Sea, 18 km northeast of Gudhjem on the Danish island of Bornholm. The archipelago includes Denmark's easternmost point and covers just 39 hectares, and its two inhabited islands, Christiansø and Frederiksø, have about 90 residents. The archipelago's name means «pea islands» in Danish. It was an important naval site whose fortress closed in 1855, and it is still administered by the Ministry of Defence, which employs people to maintain its historic buildings, museum and civilian infrastructure. Its economy now rests on tourism, with tens of thousands of visitors a year, most on summer day trips from Bornholm. Its buildings and nature are protected. Small houses with red tiled roofs and yellow walls, old stone walls and fortifications, and freshwater ponds among the rocks are scattered across the granite island. Clear blue sea surrounds it, and seabirds such as eider ducks and gulls nest here. Visitors arrive by ferry from Bornholm, walk the path around the island and along the walls, and visit the museum and historic buildings. The island is small enough to walk around quickly, and summer is the best season.