Ravelinen

In the capital of Copenhagen, we have some exceptional garden restaurants such as Ravelinen - here by the ramparts on the outer Christianshavn - and the small gardens close by the Castle of Frederiksberg. All these garden restaurants - offering both indoor and outdoor service - are marked by a certain historical atmosphere. Ravelinen was built in 1728 and today, it is, of course, protected property. From the very beginning the buildings were used as a kind of toll house and military guardroom where guards checked passers-by to see whether they had paid toll at the crossing between rural and urbane areas. At that time, Amager was an open arable land and from here Christianshavn seemed the beginning of the big town.

The name ravelin is French and means "angular outworks between two bastions". In modern English, this means a sort of advanced fortification between the two bastions on the ramparts of Christianshavn - Elefantens Bastion (Bastion of the Elephant) situated towards the SAS Hotel - and Løvens Bastion (Bastion of the Lion) situated towards Christiania and Holmen. King Christian the 4th had the ramparts constructed around Christianshavn to protect the town from this side as well. Today, the ramparts are the most intact and well-preserved of all the outer fortifications. It is a tradition to take a walk on these ramparts on the eve of Store Bededag (a Danish public holiday, falling on the 4th Friday after Easter).

The fortification consisted of several bastions and between these bastions one could see even more advanced fortifications - slight ravelins - like Ravelinen. Ravelinen appeared as a little artificial island in the middle of the moat - which is somewhat difficult to imagine as the road that connects Amager and Christianshavn, by squeezing through the moat, has grown big and broad. Before, there was just a little narrow road from Amager to Ravelinen and from there, a small wooden bridge to Christianshavn. In 1856, it was decided to pull down the fortification - and with that Amagerport. Ravelinen, the little artificial island, was, however, left untouched - and so the house Ravelinen. Actually, it was not until 1915 that the system of collecting toll at this place was put to an end. In 1942 the building re-opened as a restaurant with a beautiful view of the moat. Since then, it has been somewhat enlarged. Peter Olesen, journalist and writer