Viborg is one of the oldest cities in Denmark, withViking settlements dating back to the late 8th century.[4] Its central location gave the city great strategic importance, in political and religious matters, during theMiddle Ages. Amotte-and-bailey-type castle was once located in the city. Viborg's name is a combination of two Old Norse words:vé, meaning a holy place, andborg, meaning a fort, but the original name of the town wasVvibiærgh, where-biærgh means hill (modern Danish-bjerg (mountain).[5]
Viborg is famous forViborg Cathedral. The construction of the cathedral started in 1130 and took about 50 years. The building has burned to the ground and been re-built several times. Only thecrypt of the original cathedral is still preserved. The cathedral was and is the locus of cult ofSaint Kjeld of Viborg who was dean of the cathedral chapter there and had a great shrine there in the Middle Ages. The newest parts of the church are from a restoration between 1864 and 1876.[7] The cathedral is famous for its many paintings by Danish painterJoakim Skovgaard, which depict stories from theBible. Next to the cathedral is theSkovgaard museum, founded in 1937.[8]
Before theProtestant Reformation Viborg was the home of fivemonasteries,[9] about 12 parish churches, several chapels and of course the cathedral. The Black Friars' church dates from the 13th century.[7] Today only the cathedral and a few remains of the Franciscan and the Dominican monasteries are left.
Since the 1990s, Viborg has had a reputation as one of Denmark's leading cities forsports. It started withhandball, a popular sport in Denmark, when the women's handball team became one of best five clubs in Europe, and continued when both the men's handball team and the professionalfootball team established themselves in their respective domestic leagues. From 1998 to 2008,Viborg FF was a member of theDanish Superliga, reaching an all-time high by winning theDanish cup in2000.
Viborg hosts the annual Haervejsmarchen international two-day walking festival, which regularly attracts 8,000 participants, including many from outside Denmark. It includes marked routes of distances of up to 45 kilometres a day.[10] The walk is affiliated to theIML Walking Association.[11]
Viborg is home to a number ofeducational institutions, includingViborg Katedralskole (cathedral school). Denmark's oldesteducational institution celebrated its 900th birthday in 2000. The school is believed to have been founded about 1060, at the same time as the city became the seat of abishop. Thechurch needed to educate boys and young men to enter into the church's service, and to that purpose it created a school. Its current monumental home was built in 1926 to accommodate a larger number of students and later the school added adormitory to house the many students from outer regions or islands not close to agymnasium. Although this role is now basically obsolete, the dorm continues to be a popular solution for many students wanting to get away from home or for a small number of students fromGreenland. Viborg Katedralskole is today one of four gymnasiums in Viborg.
Viborg is also home toThe Animation Workshop, an art school based in a former army barracks on the outskirts of town. The school, which achieved official recognition from the Danish government in 2003, offers students a Bachelor of Arts in character animation.
In thescience fiction bookThe Corridors of Time byPoul Anderson, a Danish-American writer who did considerable research on Danish history, a large part of the plot takes place in 16th-century Viborg. The protagonist - an Americantime traveller from the 20th century - arrives in the city in 1535 and gets involved with the adherents of the overthrown KingChristian II and of the peasant rebel leaderSkipper Clement, who face savage persecution in the city.
Viborg is also the setting of "Number 13", a ghost story by the English writerM.R. James.
"Gymnasium" is the Danish equivalent of high school. It is not what English speakers call a gym, or place to work out. It offers a very rigorous education for college-bound students.
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