Chapel - Sorø Old Cemetery

Beautiful church in a beautiful location. A very beautiful place with historic academy buildings, large park area and right on Sorø Lake.

Sorø Old Cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries still in use in the country, established in the second half of the 11th century in connection with the construction of the monastery.It may be surprising that the cemetery is located north of the monastery and church, which was unusual for a Cistercian monastery. However, after the monastery plan was developed, it was and remained impossible to find other locations within the monastery walls.At the beginning of 1800, the need for expansion became urgent, and the area was expanded three times the original size.In the years 1940-1944, the cemetery was reorganized. Roads and paths were straightened and the entire area was solidified for easier maintenance.In the cemetery you will find gravestones, usually representing different eras, as well as grave monuments of poets and cultural figures from the first half of the 19th century, the "so-called Golden Age", including the poet B.S. Ingemann.
There is a small leaflet in the abbey church with a map of the cemetery and a description of a number of gravestones.stiftsor.dk/kirkegaarde/soroe-gammel-kirkegaard

Sorø Old Cemetery also contains the chapel of Sorø Abbey Church.
The chapel also serves as a bell tower. The building, designed by Hans Christian Hansen, was built in 1863-64. The cemetery was renovated during the years when the northern entrance gate was removed and the chapel was built in its place. For many years there had been no mortuary chapel in the town, and the church's bells had been hidden in a bell tower on the north side of the church's north cross wing after the bell tower in the cross section of the church was dismantled. Therefore, it was decided to have a building built that could serve both purposes. The building is made of red brick with a slate roof.The chapel is built according to Greek-Byzantine inspiration, the cross shape, and has a bell tower in the middle and smaller side buildings on each side. The entrance to the chapel is from the cemetery side. On the opposite side, facing the parking lot, there is a pentagonal extension that houses the stairs up to the bells.Architect Christian Hansen is also known for designing the University of Athens, the Municipal Hospital and the Zoological Museum in Copenhagen.stiftsor.dk/kirkegaarde/soroe-gammel-kirkegaard