Look across this sweeping cobblestone plaza toward the grand yellow brick building, anchored by two square towers and elegant arched windows. Welcome to Hestetorvet, or Horse Square! If we stood here in the Middle Ages, the smell of pigs, steers, and horses would instantly hit you. This bustling animal market thrived for centuries just inside the old eastern city gate. In nineteen fifty-eight, developers dug up the square to build an underground parking garage. But that excavation revealed something completely unexpected. People had actually lived on this exact spot since the Bronze Age! Fast forward to nineteen ninety-nine, and the city celebrated its one thousandth anniversary by installing massive clay jars designed by artist Peter Brandes. They are five meters tall and weigh twenty-four tons! Amazingly, Elsebeth Stryhn, director of a famous Danish liver pâté company, donated them to the city. Toward the street, you will also spot a beautiful granite horse well, carved by local artist Karl Hansen Glem in nineteen forty-five. It is incredible how much vibrant history is layered beneath these very stones. Take a moment to soak this all in. Whenever you are ready, we can head to the next stop.
