Antvorskov

In the 12th C. there was a monastery of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in the southeast of Slagelse, near the road to Næstved. It was founded by King Valdemar the Great in 1165 and was the chief seat of the Order of St John in the Nordic countries. Hans Tausen, who became a Lutheran in Wittenberg in Germany, went to school in Antvorskov as a 12-year-old and later became a monk. In 1525 he preached the sermon in Antvorskov which opened the way for the Reformation in Denmark (memorial).

In 1580 the monastery became a royal residence and was subsequently made into a palace. Today only the ruins can be seen in Antvorskov woods. Some excavated finds are on display in a small museum; these include some limestone keystones from the