Overgade - A street with Viking roots
As you walk along Overgade and Vestergade in the heart of Odense, you are following a route that has served as the city's backbone for more than 1,000 years. Beneath the cobblestones, asphalt and pavements lie the remains of the road that connected Odense with the rest of Funen and helped shape the city we know today.
Archaeologist and curator Mikael Manøe Bjerregaard from Museum Odense often returns to this particular street when he wants to experience the city's history up close:
"If I feel like walking in the footsteps of history, I take a stroll along Overgade and Vestergade. There are plenty of shops and people here, but the ghosts of the past walk alongside us, because this street has been Odense's main thoroughfare and backbone ever since the city first emerged in the Viking Age."
A road through more than 1,000 years
Odense developed along an important route that crossed Funen from east to west. The road now known as Overgade and Vestergade already served as a key connection during the Viking Age and became a natural hub for trade, crafts and travellers.
Archaeological excavations have shown that parts of the old road still survive beneath today's street level. Several metres below the surface, archaeologists have uncovered layers of tightly packed stones that formed the road nearly 1,000 years ago. These discoveries offer a rare glimpse into the development of early Odense and highlight the importance of this route to everyday life in the city.
The people behind the history
It is easy to focus on stones, street layouts and archaeological discoveries, but the road also tells the story of the people who once used it. For centuries, merchants, craftspeople, pilgrims, monks and local residents travelled along the very same streets that visitors walk today.
As Mikael Manøe Bjerregaard points out, the old road still lies two to three metres beneath the modern street. Imagine the countless people who followed this route through the city over the course of a millennium and how their everyday lives helped shape Odense.
The drama lies just beneath your feet
The old road beneath Overgade and Vestergade is just one of many stories waiting to be discovered in Viking Age Odense. Follow the Viking route and explore places where archaeological finds, kings, churches and centuries-old stories come together to reveal how the city grew and developed more than 1,000 years ago.
Last updated by:VisitOdensejmjen@odense.dk
