Ring rampart
Grass-covered.
Schorle — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Schorle — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ajepbah — CC BY-SA 3.0 de · JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Schorle — CC BY-SA 4.0
Trelleborg is one of seven known Viking ring fortresses, west of Slagelse on the Danish island of Zealand and about 58 km in a straight line from Roskilde. When built it stood on a peninsula between two rivers, in marshland linked to the Great Belt. King Harald Bluetooth is believed to have ordered it in 980 AD, and it is the best preserved of the ring fortresses. It was laid out as a perfect circle with two roads crossing at right angles in the centre, leading to four gates, and in each quarter stood four almost identical longhouses arranged in a square, with room for perhaps 1,300 people. In 2023 it joined four other ring fortresses on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Today you see the circular grass-covered earth rampart, with the outlines of the longhouses marked on the grass inside. Beside the fortress stands a reconstructed longhouse with a curved wooden roof, and a small village of replica Viking houses. The Trelleborg Museum, open since 1995, tells the fortress's story and shows some of its finds. In summer there are activities showing Viking life.
Grass-covered.
Reconstructed.
Marked on the grass.
West of Slagelse, Zealand, Denmark
Believed to be King Harald Bluetooth.
Yes, since 1995.