Our Saviour's Church

One of Copenhagen's most famous and well-known monuments is the Church of our Saviour in Christianshavn, known for its 90-meter spire and golden spiral stairway. Most visitors ascend the 400 stairs to the summit to enjoy the breathtaking city views, but it's worthwhile to peek inside the church as well.

Located in Copenhagen's Christianshavn neighborhood, this large baroque church is a popular tourist destination in Denmark.

The church, which has a twisting spire, is a national treasure and serves as a functioning parish church for roughly 8000 people.

The largest carillon system in northern Europe is located in the church, which plays music every hour across the surrounding area.

Things to do at Our Saviour's Church:

• The church's architecture exemplifies the seriousness and aspiration that went into the design of the actual structure:

The baroque masterpiece by Lambert van Haven, one of the most recognizable structures on the Copenhagen skyline, piques the curiosity of religious architecture enthusiasts.  

The construction of the church foundations took a lot of time since the entire region is made up of a sea bed filled in. It took 14 years to complete.

The interior is dominated by a massive, ornately carved 17th-century organ supported by two fake elephants, built in the baroque style in 1752, and a magnificent altarpiece by Nicodemus Tessins.

The Palladian-Netherlandic design chosen by Lambert van Haven is a serious baroque arrangement.

A true Templum Salvatoris (Savior's Temple) is built of red brick on a sturdy granite base with sandstone cornices below the roof, and everything is in its proper place.

The artistic tower was erected 50 years later and wasn't in van Haven's designs.

• The 1698 organ is a work of art that can be seen and heard:

One of the most famous musical instruments in the world is the stunning façade of the organ case on the church's west side. One anticipates a fantastic and sophisticated tone from this magnificent instrument. It is called a ''Stradivarius of organs'' because when the main organ pipes are played, one hears the sound of 1698. It is a marvel that these pipes, among the oldest in all of Copenhagen, have endured for three centuries.

• Visitors come from all around to view since both the outside and interior are of notable architectural worth:

The massive Romanesque altar showing Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane is among the most well-known interior elements.

Another historical attraction is a huge organ hung on the wall and supported by two elephants behind the altar.

The organ's approximately 4,000 pipes continue to produce the same sound it did when it was constructed more than 300 years ago, and renowned organists regularly perform performances to highlight its astounding range. 

• The evening sunbeams on the gilding ''like a tongue of fire,'' make it the most beautiful tower:

Although the city has expanded since then, the view from the tower of Our Saviour's remains the greatest in town—and the most terrifying..

To ascend and touch the globe at the peak has traditionally been seen as a manly test. The fact that the entire spire is made of wood, which can tremble somewhat in a strong wind, contributes to the sinking sensation when one is standing atop it.

A gilded iron grating guards the visitor as they make their way to the summit.

• Visit one of the regular masses to experience this cultural treasure's ambiance and hear the organ play:

The tower also has the largest bell system in northern Europe, with a carillon of 48 bells chimes loudly and clearly in various hymn tunes every hour. Because the church receives more tourists than any other in Copenhagen each year and because the carillon was the first in modern-day Scandinavia.

The remaining 42 bells hang in the open lantern above, and the carillonist plays the instrument from a keyboard in the gallery right above the clock faces.