COPENHAGEN. 



four and five miles in circumference, and consists of the 

 old and new town, and Christianshafen. The streets 

 are, in general, broad and well paved, with a foot path 

 on each side, but sometimes very narrow and inconve- 

 nient; and some of them are intersected by canals, 

 which afford a great facility to the transportation of 

 goods. The Rue de Goths, and Amalien Gade, in par- 

 ticular, are beautiful streets, and the former is about 

 three quarters of an English mile in length. There is 

 a peculiarity in the mode of building in this city, which 

 is mentioned by Mr M 'Donald, and which is indeed a 

 very judicious and convenient one in a crowded city. 

 •' Instead of the usual right angles," says he, " formed 

 by the corners of the houses at the extremities or divi- 

 sions of the streets, the builders of Copenhagen have 

 squared them off in a semi-octangular form, and there- 

 by secured various advantages. Carriages and horses 

 cannot so frequently run foul of each other, or run 

 down persons on foot at the turnings of the streets ; 

 the space gained gives a free circulation of air, and the 

 look of as many handsome squares as there are street 

 divisions in the city." Most of the houses are modern, 

 and are built of brick, sometimes stuccoed to resemble 

 stone, which exhibit a beautiful and uniform appear- 

 ance ; and a few of them are constructed of freestone 

 brought from Germany. They are, in general, spaci- 

 ous, having four complete stories, besides sunk cellars 

 and garrets ; and those of the nobility in particular are 

 splendid, and elegantly finished in the Italian style of 

 architecture. The shops are as usual confined to the 

 ground story, but as they make no prominent appear- 

 ance as in most of our cities, they do not disfigure the 

 rest of the building. 



Old Copenhagen occupies the western division of the 

 city north of the harbour, and contains the principal 

 public buildings. The palace of Christiansburg, which 

 was destroyed by the conflagration of 1794, and whose 

 ruins still bear testimony to its former magnificence, 

 was erected by Christian VI. out of his own private 

 purse, and is said to have cost six millions of dollars. 

 Its size is out of all proportion either to the extent or 

 the resources of the kingdom ; and were we not satis- 

 fied of the prudent and paternal administration of its 

 founder, we might have suspected, that it had its ori- 

 gin either in his prodigality or his pride. The front, 

 which is constructed of stone, is 387 feet long, and the 

 lateral sides, built of brick stuccoed, are 389. The eleva- 

 tion is 1 14 feet, with six stories, of which three are upon 

 a large, and the remaining three upon a smaller scale. 

 The principal suite of apartments is in the fourth story, 

 and the interior decorations were equal to its external 

 grandeur ; but so sudden and rapid was the conflagra- 

 tion, that very little of its furniture, pictures, &c. were 

 preserved. The Ritta saal, or knight's saloon, was par- 

 ticularly splendid. It was 118 feet by 58, with a gal- 

 lery on each side richly gilded, and supported by 44 

 columns of cinnamon wood ; and lighted at night by 

 three lustres, which contained more than 1200 wax 

 lights. One of the wings, to which the flames did not 

 extend, still contains the royal museum, or cabinet of 

 rarities, which is ranged in eight apartments in the 

 following order: animals; shells; minerals; paint- 

 ings ; antiquities ; medals ; dresses, and arms and im- 

 plements of the Laplanders; and is worthy the at- 

 tention of the curious. The court of the palace is 

 surrounded with two piazzas, twelve feet deep, sup- 

 ported by Ionic columns, and on each side are magni- 

 ficent stables, which being arched, have escaped the fu- 

 ry of the flames. In one of these, Avhich contains 48 



199 



stalls, each six feet wide, the racks are of copper, and C'epenha- 

 the pillars of the stalls of brick stuccoed ; and in ano- ga- 

 ther, both racks and pillars are of Norwegian marble. """■ "*Y~""* 

 There are also two lateral courts surrounded with build- 

 ings ; and the whole stands in a kind of island formed 

 by a canal, which communicates with the harbour. The 

 Kongens nye Tow, or the king's new market, is a spa- 

 cious and irregular area situated nearly in the centre 

 of the city. On one side is the castle of Charlottenberg, 

 part of which is now appropriated to the Royal Acade- 

 my of paintings, architecture, and sculpture ; and in 

 the middle of the area, is an equestrian statue of Chris- 

 tian V. in bronze. The observatory, erected by Fre- 

 derick V. for a disciple of Tycho Brahe, is particularly 

 deserving of attention. It is built in the form of a cy- 

 linder, about 70 feet in diameter, and 130 in height, 

 and has a spiral carriage road of brick to within 20 or 

 25 feet of the top. From the rooms where the astrono- 

 mical apparatus is kept, there is a very fine and extensive 

 prospect, and it is considered as the most eligible situ- 

 ation for obtaining a complete view of the city; which", 

 with its beautiful spires, elegant streets, numerous ca- 

 nals and vessels, appears like a map spread under our 

 feet. But what gives us most pleasure to contemplate 

 in this quarter of the city, is a simple and elegant pil>- 

 lar of Norwegian granite, situated without the walls 

 near the western gate, and which was erected in honour 

 of the late king, in commemoration of his granting free- 

 dom to all the peasants on the crown lands. The four 

 corners of the pedestal are occupied by four figures of 

 white marble, representing peace, plenty, content, and 

 industry ; and on marble slabs inserted into the gra- 

 nite, are engraved the following inscriptions : " For 

 Christian den syvende de Danskes og Norskes Konge 

 af eenige og tanknemmelige Borgere." To Christian 

 the Seventh, king of the Danes and Norwegians, by some 

 grateful citizens. And on the opposite side : " Grund- 

 steuen bier lagt af Frederik Kongens son Folkets ven, 

 ] 792." The foundation stone, was laid by Frederick, the 

 king's son, the people's friend, 1792. The old town con- 

 tains also the dock, the exchange, the university, and 

 the royal college, besides several handsome churches 

 and hospitals. 



ThenewtoAvn, which was raised by Frederick V. 

 is extremely beautiful, and consists chiefly of an oc- 

 tagon, and four broad streets leading to it in opposite 

 directions. The grand entrance is through a gate, com- 

 posed of double rows of Corinthian pillars, with a rich 

 entablature. The octagon contains four uniform and 

 elegant palaces, with two wings each ; and in the cen- 

 tre is an equestrian statue of Frederick V. which was 

 erected at the expence of the Danish East India Com- 

 pany, and is said to have cost £ 80,000. One of these 

 palaces is the present residence of the king; another is 

 allotted to the lodging and education of young navy 

 cadets ; and the other two are usually occupied by dif- 

 ferent members of the royal family. At the extremity 

 of one of the streets is Frederick's church, which, though 

 begun many years ago, and though large sums of mo- 

 ney have been expended upon it, is left unfinished, and 

 the materials lie scattered over the church-yard. The 

 Danes pretend that the ground is deficient, and that 

 the foundation cannot bear the weight; but it is sus- 

 pected that the real cause is the want of money. Its 

 plan and style of architecture are grand and elegant, 

 and it was intended to be finished in a manner worthy 

 of the Danish capital. The walls, inside and outside, 

 were all to be of polished Norwegian marble; and one 

 of the blocks, intended as part of a front pillar, ready 



