The Oldest Odense - Klaregade

Where Odense began

It may be hard to imagine among the shops, bicycles and busy streets of today, but the area around Klaregade was already an important place during the Viking Age. One of the city's oldest river crossings was located here, and for centuries people crossed the river, traded, travelled and settled in this very spot.

Klaregade is much more than a historic street. It is one of the places where the connection to Odense's earliest days remains strongest. Beneath today's paving stones lie traces of generations of people who lived their lives here long before the city grew into what it is today.

Imagine life 1,100 years ago

"It is almost impossible to believe, but when you stand on Klaregade, surrounded by bicycles, tall buildings and cars, you are actually standing in the very oldest part of Odense. This neighbourhood sits on a small headland that reaches out into the river, and it is here that we find one of the oldest crossings over the River Odense.

If you had stood here 1,100 years ago, the scene would have looked very different, but you would not have been alone. Around you would have been small thatched huts and larger homes. Children would have been playing, adults chatting, craftspeople at work, young people falling in love and all the other things that make up everyday life."

Poul Baltzer Heide, archaeologist and museum curator

Follow the trail through Viking Odense

Klaregade is just one of the stories hidden within Viking Odense. From here, you can follow the traces of the past to Nonnebakken, Odense's Viking ring fortress and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as other places where the city's earliest history can still be discovered today.

Follow the Viking route through the city and discover how stories of trade, faith, power and everyday life still lie just beneath your feet.