The Philippine Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark toured the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark on 11 November 2023. The museum, beautifully situated at the Roskilde Fjord, was designed by Erik Christian Sørensen. It was completed in 1968 to house a unique maritime collection of the remains of five 1,000-year old ships and exhibitions on the Viking heritage and its role as a leading seafaring nation.

The Viking ships of different types used for fishing, trading, defense, and warfare, built approximately between 1030-1040 AD, were discovered in the 1950s in Skuldelev, around 20 km from the location of the museum within the fjord. They were gutted of all interior and sunken purposely on top of each other to effectively block one of the only three, 3-5 meter deep sailing channels.

Based on the archeological finds, the ships were a part of the defensive system established to ensure control of traffic in the inner reaches of the fjord and protect the town. It is estimated that this took place around the year 1000 when Roskilde was the largest and one of the most important Viking age towns of Denmark, center of the Danish Royal power, religion, legislation, and trade.

The Embassy gained valuable insights on the significance of these ships; the Viking profession, approximately 750-1100 AD; and the Vikings profound influence in the world. The collection of maritime crafts provided relevant, archeological, historical and ethnological material on Viking maritime culture such as shipbuilding, seamanship, tradesmanship and the ability to journey far and wide, exploring new horizons. These ships made it possible for the Vikings to sail along the shores of Europe, to Russian rivers, Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands throughout the North Atlantic area, to Istanbul, the trading capital of the west, and to the Middle East Asia and Northern Africa through the Mediterranean Sea.END