Description of the attraction
Roskilde Monastery is located in the historic center of this city, about 400 meters from the cathedral. Earlier on this place stood a medieval Dominican monastery, destroyed after the Reformation. Now it houses a women's collegiate society, dating back to the end of the 17th century.
The Dominican monastery of St. Catherine was founded back in 1231 with the assistance of Danish crusaders. The monastery at Roskilde was considered the second largest Dominican monastery in the entire country. One of its patrons was the Dowager Duchess Ingeborg, mother of King Magnus Ericsson of Sweden, who made generous donations to the monastery from 1330 until her death in 1360.
Despite the numerous archaeological excavations carried out, it is not possible to determine the size of the former monastery. It is known that it consisted of a main church, cells, a refectory, a scriptorium, where the manuscripts were copied, and monastery grounds. Now the city library of 1960 is located on this territory.
The monastery was dissolved after the Reformation - in 1537, and 20 years later the entire monastery complex, including the church of St. Catherine, was destroyed. In 1565, a mansion was erected here, which was named "Farm of Dominican Monks" in memory of the former monastery. This house was completed several times and increased in size, and in 1699 a special institution was opened here for single women of noble birth, the first of its kind in all of Denmark. Its founder was the venerable widow Bertha Skeel, known for her charity work.
Currently, Roskilde Monastery is a symmetrical three-story building of dark red bricks and a sloping red roof with dormer windows. On the sides there are small turrets with light green cone-shaped spiers.
