Slagelse: Churches, Museums and Paths Through History

Historical Traces in the Heart of Slagelse

The present-day building of Sct. Mikkels Kirke dates from 1333 and is Gothic. The church stands on Mikkelsbjerget and bears the name of the archangel Michael.

Sct. Peders Kirke also reaches far back into the town's history: it is the oldest surviving church building in Slagelse. It is open to visitors from Tuesday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., except during church services and ceremonies. The Kirkeladen dates from around 1470 and adds another historical dimension. The visitor hours until 2:00 p.m. should therefore be included in the day's plans for a church visit on the respective day.

Museums with Different Perspectives

At Slagelse Museum, history can be experienced in several concrete settings. Håndværkergaden is a curved, cobblestone street that takes visitors back around 200 years. In the same museum, you can visit a Latin school like the one H. C. Andersen attended during his stay in Slagelse. At Det Gamle Trykkeri, retired typesetters, printers and bookbinders demonstrate their former trades. Håndværkergaden, the Latin school and Det Gamle Trykkeri each focus on a different aspect of the museum: the street, school history and the printing trade.

The Dansk Forsorgshistorisk Museum presents the history of Danish care for people with intellectual disabilities through the former Andersvænge institution in Slagelse. The museum offers guided tours on Thursdays at 10:30 a.m. and at 1:00 p.m. on the first Sunday of each month, led by someone who previously worked there. During the tours, the history of the former institution is complemented by the perspective of someone who worked there.

The location of Slagelse Museum is also useful for finding your way around town: it is about a ten-minute walk from Slagelse Station. Those arriving by train can therefore include the museum early in their sightseeing itinerary.

History in the Surrounding Area and Paths Through Town

Around Slagelse, the ruins of Antvorskov Monastery and Castle preserve architectural elements ranging from the earliest monastery buildings of the second half of the 12th century to the buildings from the castle period in the first half of the 17th century. West of Slagelse lies Trelleborg, Denmark's best-preserved Viking ring fortress.

The Kløverstierne Slagelse consist of four colour-coded hiking trails. They start at Fisketorvet and range from 2.7 to 11.4 kilometres in length. The trails are marked with coloured cloverleaf signs, allowing you to compare shorter and longer routes when planning your day. There is 8.7 kilometres between the shortest and longest of the four trails. Slagelse Lystanlæg contains a large lake with an island known locally as “Øen i Søen”. For observing the landscape in Lystanlæg, the water and island are the central features.

Further destinations for your travel planning include Frølunde Fed, Frølunde, Årslev, Rude, Korsør, Kobæk Strand and Bisserup.

Back to the higher-level travel overview: Slagelse.