Denmark is a country of castles and manors. As a matter of fact, there are more than 600 of them, with the royal winter residence Amalienborg and Hamlet's castle, Kronborg as the probably best known internationally.
Marienlyst, originally founded as a royal pavilion of the Kronborg castle in the late 16th century, is one of the less known Danish palacial residences, but this small pearl of a building is well worth exploring.
The Marienlyst that we see today is the work of Nicolas-Henri Jardin, a French architect, who between 1754 and 1771 worked as an architect of the Danish royal court. Jardin rebuilt and and enlarged the old pavilion in neoclassical style, a popular style at the time that he was the first to introduce in Denmark.
Marienlyst was a royal residence until 1850, when King Frederik 7. donated it to be used as a home for disabled soldiers. However, that project did not turn out very well, which is why the castle and its gardens were sold to the city of Helsingør already the following year.
The city of Helsingør, which still owns the Marienlyst, has used the palace for different purposes, lately mostly for various cultural activities. As you can see from the pictures shown here, the exterior of Jardin's palace is in good shape, but a few years ago experts found out that the building is in need of extensive structural renovation. That was thought to be so costly that the city authorities were about to sell the property to a private buyer.
However, a group of influential friends of the culturally important palace was able to stop the privatisation plans. Recently a society called Marienlyst Slots Venner (Friends of the Marienlyst castle) was established in order to secure the financing of the renovation work. The city of Helsingør will continue to be the owner, but a foundation will be in charge of the future operation of the palace after the renovation work is done.
One can only hope that there are enough friends of the Marienlyst palace in order to preserve it for future generations to enjoy!
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