Mariager and the fjord
One of Denmark's smallest market towns, one of its most beautiful fjords, and three minutes' walk from the house.
The Town of Roses
Mariager grew up around a Bridgettine convent in the early 1400s and became a market town in 1592. The name means Mary's field, after the Virgin Mary, to whom the convent was dedicated. Today about 2,650 people live here, and the town is known for its cobbled streets and white half-timbered houses with roses and hollyhocks climbing the walls.
The author Peter Nansen gave the town its name, the Town of Roses, a little over a century ago, and the physician Gudmund Effersøe's rose plantings in the 1920s made it true. The town also has its own Birgitta rose, an apple rose which, according to legend, came from St Bridget's childhood home in Sweden and now grows around town with small name signs.
Since 2013 Mariager has been a certified Cittaslow town, part of the international network of towns that value history, authenticity, local food and a slower pace.
The convent and the church
Mariager Convent was founded around 1446 as a daughter house of Maribo and became the largest and most powerful monastery in eastern Jutland. By 1467 it housed some 60 nuns and 25 priests, and at the Reformation in 1536 it owned more than 600 properties. Afterwards it served as a residence for unmarried noblewomen until it closed in 1588.
Mariager Church, the white church on the hill, is what remains of the great convent church. Together with the neighbouring building, now the parish office, it is all that is left of the complex. The convent garden still holds more than 70 medicinal plants from the Middle Ages.
Mariager Fjord
Mariager Fjord is Denmark's longest fjord, about 35 kilometres from Hobro to the Kattegat. It is 4.5 kilometres across at its widest and only 250 metres at Hadsund, and up to 30 metres deep. Because the fjord is deep inland and shallow at the mouth, the inner water is calm and ideal for kayaking and paddleboarding.
The eastern part is a Natura 2000 area with rich birdlife. Bramslev Bakker on the north shore and Katbjerg Odde west of Mariager, with orchids and Stone Age mounds, are the classic nature spots.
- 35 km long
- Færgehagen bathing pier
- The tour boat Svanen sails Mariager
Beach and harbour
Five minutes' walk from the house are the beach and the harbour with its marina, the Saltcenter and the tour boat Svanen. Færgehagen has a sturdy bathing pier of about 51 metres with 1.8 metres of water at the end, used for swimming all year, including winter bathing. There are toilets and a kiosk, and dogs are welcome.
What is there to do?
Saltcenter, burial mounds, heritage railway, walking and cycling routes, kayaking and boat trips. We have collected it all.
See things to do