Viborg, Denmark
Tourism

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in the countryside around Viborg and the town itself is a good starting point for excursions and walks, many of which follow in the footsteps of the local poet Steen Steensen Blicher. Borgvold, with the old castle mound, is now a lakeside park.

Archaeological finds have shown that there was a settlement in the area of the present town around 700. The town was originally known as Wibjerg (wi is an old word for sacred, hence Wibjerg meant "sacred hill") and is thought to have been a pagan cult site; this gave rise to trading activity and thus to the development of the town. After the coming of Christianity Viborg became a religious focal point and in 1065 the see of a bishop. At this time it was the capital of Jutland, and until 1340 Danish kings were elected in Viborg. For another 300 years it remained the place where the nobles paid homage to the newly elected king. Until 1650 it was the largest town in Jutland and until 1850 the seat of the "Landsting" (provincial assembly). Between 1525 and 1529 the preacher, Hans Tausen, made Viborg a center of the Reformation. Most of the town's old buildings were destroyed by conflagrations in 1567 and 1727, and of its churches only the Cathedral (rebuilt in the 19th C.) and the Dominican church survived. Viborg is now primarily a commercial and industrial town.