Nyborg Castle

Eric V signed Denmark’s first constitution in this castle in 1282, and until 1413 its palatium was the main venue for the Danehof, the country’s first parliament, which makes the building central to Danish constitutional history rather than merely old. It was established around 1170 as a moated square with corner towers linked by a curtain wall. Christian III added a banqueting hall in the 1540s; under Christian IV the Italian architect Domenicus Badiaz gave the main tower a spire in 1607. Badly damaged in the Dano-Swedish war of 1657–58, most of it was pulled down and the stone carted off to build Odense Palace.