Phone +45 46 48 08 78 | ||
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Address Slangealleen 2, 4320 Lejre, Denmark Similar Viking Ship Museum, Ledreborg, Iron Age Village, Roskilde Cathedral, Trelleborg ‑ Museum of the Viking | ||
The Land of Legends, Centre for Historical-Archaeological Research and Communication (in Danish "Sagnlandet Lejre" and formerly known as Lejre Experimental Centre) is a 106-acre (43 hectare) archaeological open-air museum situated in the Lejre Municipality, few kilometres west of Roskilde (Denmark).
Land of Legends was founded in 1964 by ethnologist Hans-Ole Hansen and comprise reconstructions of an Iron Age village and sacrificial bog (200 BC to 200 AD), a Viking market place (900 AD), a Stone Age campsite (5000 BC), an 18th-century farmstead and various grave monuments. The historical artisan workshops (the pottery, the weaver's workshop, the smithy) work to reproduce (pre-)historical handicraft. Gardens, pastures and fields are the natural scenario of activities and reconstructions. At the Land of Legends Lejre, the activities for the public utilizes previous techniques, known from historical documents, archaeological evidence or experimental archaeology.
Each summer many families spend a week of their holidays in the Iron Age village, the farm cottages and the Stone Age campsite. They dress in period costume and take on the role of peopling the reconstructed areas, while trying to live using the techniques of the past.
Many archaeologists from all over the world come to the Land of Legends to perform their experiments, dealing with a broad variety of subjects and artifacts. For example, the Land of Legends has several times supported the experimental work of Errett Callahan, one of the world's most recognised flintknappers.
Around 55,000 tourists and school children visit Lejre each year.