Denmark - Copenhagen - The Round Tower (Rundetaarn)

Dinamarca - Copenhague - Rundetaarn (Torre Redonda)

***

www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/round-tower-gdk410741

ENGLISH:

www.rundetaarn.dk/en/

The Rundetaarn, or Rundetårn (Round Tower in English), is a 17th-century tower located in central Copenhagen, Denmark. One of the many architectural projects of Christian IV, it was built as an astronomical observatory. It is most noted for its equestrian staircase, a 7.5-turn helical corridor leading to the top, and for the expansive views it affords over Copenhagen.

The tower is part of the Trinitatis Complex which also provided the scholars of the time with a university chapel, the Trinitatis Church, and an academic library which was the first purpose-built facilities of the Copenhagen University Library which had been founded in 1482.

Today the Round Tower serves as an observation tower for expansive views of Copenhagen, a public astronomical observatory and a historical monument. At the same time the Library Hall, located above the church and only accessible along the tower's ramp, is an active cultural venue with both exhibitions and a busy concert schedule.

The Round Tower is a cylindrical tower built in masonry of alternating yellow and red bricks, the colours of the Oldenburgs. The bricks used were manufactured in the Netherlands and are of a hard-burned, slender type known as muffer or mopper. On the rear side, it is attached to the Trinitatis Church, but it has never served as a church tower.

Steenwinckel — whose name is otherwise synonymous with Dutch Renaissance architecture in Denmark — with the Trinitatis Complex has left his signature style. Unlike his other buildings with their lavish ornamentations and extravagant spires, the complex is built to a focused and restrained design. Hans van Steenwinckel must have been up on the situation in Holland, cogniziant that the style which he had once learned from Hendrick de Keyser had been altogether abandoned.

The architects now setting the agenda in the Netherlands, masters such as Jacob van Kampen (Amsterdam City Hall), Pieter Post (Mauritshuis in the Hague) and Philip Vingboons, now favoured a style characterized by sobriety and restraint. It is now known as Dutch Baroque or sometimes Dutch Classicism. Its proponents often relied on the theoretical works such as those of Palladio and of Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola. Steenwinckel may have paid a visit to his native Netherlands prior to his change in style but it will have been too early for him to have seen any of the period's buildings realized.

Instead of stairs, a 7.5-turn spiral ramp forms the only access way to the towertop observatory as well as the Library Hall and the Bell-Ringer's Loft, both located above the church. The ramp turns 7.5 times around the hollow masonry core of the tower before reaching the observation deck and observatory at the top, on the way also affording access to the Library Hall as well as the Ringer's Loft. This design was chosen to allow a horse and carriage to reach the library, moving books in and out of the library as well as transporting heavy and sensitive instruments to the observatory.

The winding corridor has a length of 210 m, climbing 3.74 m per turn. Along the outer wall the corridor has a length of 257.5 m and a grade of 10%, while along the wall of the inner core the corridor is only 85.5 m long but has a grade of 33%.

The observation deck is located 34.8 m above street level. Along the edge of the platform runs a wrought-iron lattice made in 1643 by Kaspar Fincke, Court Artist in metalwork. In the latticework, Christian IV's monogram and the letters RFP are seen, the letters representing the King's motto: Regna Firmat Pietas – Piety strengthens the Realms.

The observatory is a small domed building, built on the roof of the tower. Built in 1929, the current observatory is 7 m high and has a diameter of 6 m. Access is by a narrow winding stone staircase from the observation deck.

On the upper part of the façade of the tower, there is a gilded rebus inscription. Christian IV's draft of it, written in his own hand writing, is kept at the Danish National Archives. The rebus includes the four Hebrew consonants of the Tetragrammaton. The rebus can be interpreted in the following way: Lead God, the right teaching and justice into the heart of the crowned King Christian IV, 1642.

***

ESPAÑOL:

www.rundetaarn.dk/espanol/

La Rundetårn (en español: Torre Redonda) es una torre del siglo XVII ubicada en el centro de Copenhague, Dinamarca. Siendo uno de los numerosos proyectos arquitectónicos del rey Cristián IV, fue construida como observatorio astronómico. Es conocida por su pasillo helicoidal que recorre 7 vueltas y media antes de llegar a la parte más alta y por las amplias vistas panorámicas de la ciudad de Copenhague que ofrece.

La torre forma parte del Trinitatis Complex, que también estaba compuesto por una capilla universitaria, la Iglesia Trinitatis y una biblioteca universitaria, que fueron las primeras instalaciones construidas específicamente por la Biblioteca de la Universidad de Copenhague, fundada en 1482.

Actualmente, la Torre Redonda tiene la función de mirador, observatorio astronómico público y monumento histórico. Asimismo, en la Sala de la Biblioteca, que se encuentra por encima de la iglesia y a la cual solo se puede acceder a través de la rampa de la torre, se suelen exhibir exposiciones y celebrar conciertos.

Taken in: Danmark / Hovedstaden / København / Klostergården (show map)

Taken on: July 11, 2016

Tags:

Marcial

Bernabeu

Danmark

Denmark

Dinamarca

Copenhague

Copenhagen

Danish

Danes

Danés

Danesa

Monocromo

Monochrome

Architecture

Arquitectura

Tiles

Windows

Ventanas

Light

Luz

Round

Tower

Torre

Redonda

Rundetaarn

Rundetårn

B&W

Black

White

Blanco

Negro

Blanco y Negro

Black and White

Monocromático

Black & White

Marc « less

Sets appears in: • Black and White • Denmark 2016

Groups appears in: • Black and White • BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO HEAVEN! more » • Photography • B&W • canon photography • Artistic Photography • The Light Fantastic • Your Postcard Shot • visit the world - the travel guide • Travel Photography • Flickritis: over 87,000 waiting for a vaccine. • Lonely Planet • FlickrToday (only 1 pic per day) • Photography Gallery (3 photos/day) • The World Through My Eyes ... • TRAVEL Photography! • B+W • Canonistas • You Think this is Art • Flickr Elite Group • Flickr Best (post 1 - give 5 awards) • Blanco y Negro - Black and White • This Week in Photo • Canonistas españoles • dZoom - Pasión por la Fotografia • FlickrCentral With No Posting Limit • CANON-NO LIMIT • The Light Painters Society • Sólo Blanco y Negro - Only B&N&S P1-C3 • Black and White Photography Art • Black & White Done Right !. • ART PHOTOGRAPHERS Salon • flickr Travel Award (Post 1 - Award 3) • Fine Gold • The Free Photographers (P2 C2) • Black&White Photo Group • flickr (unofficial) • EOS Experience • flickr clickx • flickr every day! • The Passion of Photography • My favourite Photographers • The best photographs from around the world. « less

Camera: Canon EOS 600D, f/4.0, 1/320 sec, 18mm, ISO 800 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 600D
Lens:	EF-S18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Aperture:	f/4.0
Exposure Time:	0.003 sec (1/320)
Focal Length:	18mm
ISO:	800
Exposure Bias:	+2/3 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 7.0 (Windows)
Show full info

Stats: 14,033 views / 20 comments

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: