Helligdomsklipperne (Sanctuary Rocks) are a group of rocks on the island of

Bornholm Bornholm () is a List of islands of Denmark, Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. I ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, from

Gudhjem Gudhjem is a small town and fishing port on the northern coast of the Baltic island of Bornholm, Denmark. Its population is 736 (1 January 2024). Gudhjem is a popular venue for tourists who are attracted by its steep, picturesque streets, views ...

and from

Tejn Tejn is a harbour town on the north-eastern coast of the Danish island of Bornholm, south of Allinge-Sandvig. As of 1 January 2025, it has a population of 771. Initially a fishing village, it grew considerably during the 20th century as the harb ...

. They are characterised by moderately high coastal cliffs of sharp granite and are about high. The name of the rocks originated in the Middle Ages when there was a holy spring close to the coast which attracted pilgrims, especially on Sankt Hans Aften."Helligdomsklipperne på Bornholm"
, ''Bornholmerguiden''. Retrieved 5 July 2012. During the ice age, much of today's coast was below sea level but when the ice melted, the island itself was raised leaving this part of Bornholm's coast some 20 meters above sea level. Coastal cliffs with deep caves and steep craggy granite pillars are typical of this area of the coast as a result of many years exposure to the weather. To the southeast the ''Kyststi'' or coastal path leads to the well preserved Døndalen Woods. It is a popular tourist attraction, accessed by boats from Gudhjem harbour. Steps lead from the coast up to the

Bornholm Art Museum The Bornholm Art Museum (''Bornholms Kunstmuseum'') is situated on the Danish island of Bornholm, above the Sanctuary Rocks ('' Helligdomsklipperne'') about 6 kilometres north-west of Gudhjem, Denmark. History The museum's permanent collection c ...

History

Lunde Frederik 7 ved Helligdomsklipperne 1851

The "holy" character of the area originated in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

when a chapel named ''Trefoldighedskapellet'' (the Trinity Chapel) stood on the field directly above the rocks. At the foot of the cliffs, there was a spring of holy water which was brought up to the chapel for all those hoping to be cured of their illnesses, especially on Midsummer's Night. An account from 1806, however, describes that there was so little water in the spring that a woman was paid each Midsummer to fill it up with water from the sea. In 1906, when tourism was developing on Bornholm, the Hotel Helligdommen together with its stretch of land along the coast was bought by a German. The resentment of the local population quickly led to the founding of ''Foreningen Bornholm'' (The Bornholm Association) which ensured public access to a coastal path alongside the cliffs. In 1911, the association created the nearby ''Bornholmerpladsen'' to accommodate the increasing number of visitors."Helligdommen - asp?m=155 Hans Steenstrup Holbeck, "Kongebesøget på Bornholm 1851"
''Bornholms Historiske Samfund''. Retrieved 5 July 2012.

Geology and rock formations

The origins of the rocks go back 1,700 million years. Formed of striped

gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...

, they are crisscrossed by an abundance of little

diabase Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-gra ...

channels. These created cracks which were later filled in with additional quantities of

magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma (sometimes colloquially but incorrectly referred to as ''lava'') is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also ...

and diabase. Some parts of the bedrock proved more resistant than others, creating the craggy effects which can be seen today. Since the last ice age, the sea has on several occasions risen well above today's sealevel with the result that the rocks were completely submerged some 10,000 years ago. The channels or "ovens" in the cliffs of varying depths are therefore a result of water erosion. The ''Sorte Gryde'' (Black Pot), ''Våde Ovn'' (Wet Oven) and ''Tørre Ovn'' (Dry Oven) reach far into the rock. At the northwestern end of the formation stands ''Libertsklippen'' (Libert's Rock), named after the landscape painter

Georg Emil Libert Georg Emil Libert (2 August 1820 – 19 May 1908) was a Danish landscape painter. His specialties included scenes featuring Danish, German, and Norwegian landscapes. Biography Libert was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was the son of Johan Chr ...

(1820–1908) who showed particular interest in it. The name of ''Lyseklippen'' (Candle Rock), first called ''Lysene'' (Candles) or ''Alterlysene'' (Altar Candles), goes back to the time when there were two "candles" but one was washed away in a storm at the beginning of the 19th century. The other names of the rocks such as ''Kærlighedsbænken'' (Lovers' Bench), ''Mågetårnet'' (Gull's Tower) and ''Måneskinsklipperne'' (Moonshine Rocks) seem to date from the end of the 18th century when tourists invaded the site. The Black Pot is a particularly popular destination for visitors as it is possible to penetrate about 60 metres into the rock.

Flora

Several varieties of

rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya ...

trees cling to the cliffs. The common

sorbus aucuparia ''Sorbus aucuparia'', commonly called rowan (, also ) and mountain-ash, is a species of deciduous tree or shrub in the rose family. The tree has a slender trunk with smooth bark, a loose and roundish crown, and its leaves are pinnate in pairs o ...

lives side-by-side with the

sorbus rupicola ''Aria rupicola'', commonly known as rock whitebeam, is a rare species of shrub or small tree best known from the British Isles but also reported from Norway, Sweden and Russia. Reaching heights of 10 m,''New Flora of the British Isles''; Clive ...

or rock whitebeam. This has led to the development of the Finnish whitebeam (sorbus hybrida) and

sorbus intermedia ''Scandosorbus intermedia'' or, formerly, ''Sorbus intermedia'', the Swedish whitebeam, is a species of whitebeam found in southern Sweden, with scattered occurrences in Estonia, Latvia, easternmost Denmark (Bornholm), the far southwest of Finl ...

or Swedish whitebeam. On the clifftops, plant life includes heather, large pinks as well as oak, birch and juniper. The

small-leaved lime ''Tilia cordata'', the small-leaved lime or small-leaved linden, is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to much of Europe. Other common names include little-leaf or littleleaf linden, or traditionally in South East England, pry or p ...

is now beginning to replace the diseased elms in the area. The

Norway maple ''Acer platanoides'', commonly known as the Norway maple, is a species of maple native to eastern and central Europe and western Asia, from Spain east to Russia, north to southern Scandinavia and southeast to northern Iran. It was introduced to ...

can also be found there.

References

{{coord, 55, 13, 32, N, 14, 53, 40, E, source:dawiki_region:DK_type:landmark, display=title Geography of Bornholm Cliffs of Denmark