Outside, the splen1 didly neat squares of Rosenborg Have can be reached by leaving Rosenborg itself { and using the park's main entrance on the comer of Ostervoldgade and Solvgade. Opposite the castle, marked by a few mnic stones, is the Geology Museu» (TuesSun lpm; free), which has a great meteorite section but is otherwise quite missable unless you're a mineral Ireak (although the microscopic fragmn of moon rock brought back by an Apollo mission and presented by Richa Nixon to the Danish people in the name of "world peace" is one of Copenhagen' greater ironies). Only slightly more worthwhile is the neighbouring State Museum for Kunst (TuesSun 10am4.30pm; 20kr), a mammoth collection fift lofrria f» folztfi 5n f\rt о oVir\if on fч» ЯиИ wottor»f о Irtnrror ППР. ''' art, too large to take in on a short visit and too dull to warrant a longer one all the big cheeses have their patch there are some minor Picassos ano " j major works by Matisse and Braque, Modigliani, Diirer and El Greco it s t Nolde, with his gross pieces showing bloated ravens, hunched figures and children, who best captures the mood of the place. CHRIS TiA л ояе71 Art fans will find greater things across the park behind the museum, in the Den Hirschsprungske Samling (WedSat l4pm, Sun llam4pm; 20kr) on Stockholmsgade. Heinrich Hirschsprung was a late nineteenth4;entury tobacco baron who sunk some of the industry's profits into patronage of emergent Danish artists, including the Skagen artists (see Chapter Three) and a batch of others later to become significant. It was Hirschsprung's wish that on his death the collection which also features Eckersburg, Kebke, and lesser names fiom the Danish roidnineteenth4:entury Golden Age would be given to the nation, but the government of the day vetoed the plan, and Hirschsprung set up his own gallery. Despite a lack of masterpieces, you can easily spend an hour on this fine collection. Christiansborg CHRISTIANSBORG sits on the island of Slotsholmen, tenuously connected to Indre By by several short bridges: a mundane part of the city, but administratively and historically an important one. It was here, in the twelfth century, that Bishop Absalon built the castle which instigated the city, and the drab royal palace that occupies the site, completed in 1916, is nowadays primarily given over to government offices and the state parliament or Folketii (guided tours on the hour every Sun 10am4pm; fiee). Close to the bus stop on Christiansborg Slotsplads is the doorway to the Ruins under Christiansboi (MaySept daily 9.30am3.30pm; OctApril closed Mon & Sat; 12kr), where a staircase leads down to the remains of Absalon's original building. The first fortress suffered repeated mutilations by the Hanseatic League and Erik of Pomerania had a replacement erected in 1390, into which he moved the royal court. This in turn was pulled down by Christian IV and another castle built between 1731 and 1745.