page_title: Roskilde
section_title: Roskilde Convent
hierarchical_section_title: Roskilde / Landmarks / Roskilde Convent
caption_attribution_description: English: Roskilde Monastery, Roskilde, Denmark Dansk: Roskilde Kloster, Det tidligere Roskilde Adelige Jomfrukloster
context_page_description: Roskilde, located 30 km west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand, is the main city in the eponymous municipality. With a population of 51,262, the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative council of Roskilde Municipality.
  Roskilde has a long history, dating from the pre-Christian Viking Age. Its UNESCO-listed Gothic cathedral, now housing 39 tombs of the Danish monarchs, was completed in 1275, becoming a focus of religious influence until the Reformation.
  With the development of the rail network in the 19th century, Roskilde became an important hub for traffic with Copenhagen, and by the end of the century, there were tobacco factories, iron foundries and machine shops. Among the largest private sector employers today are the IT firm BEC and seed company DLF. The Risø research facility is also becoming a major employer, extending interest in sustainable energy to the clean technology sphere. The local university, founded in 1972, the historic Cathedral School, and the Danish Meat Trade College, established in 1964, are educational institutions of note.
context_section_description: Roskilde Convent is on the site of the former St Catherine's Priory from the mid-13th century which belonged to the Dominican friars until it was dissolved after the Danish Reformation. A private manor house (Sortebrødregaard or Blackfriars Manor) was built on the site in 1565 which in 1699 became a convent for women of high rank, the first of its kind in Lutheran Denmark. The building now houses a collection of 150 paintings from the 16th to 18th centuries as well as period furniture. The convent chapel has a carved altarpiece and pulpit.
caption: Roskilde Convent
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