ROSKILDE

city, seat of Roskilde amtskommune (county), eastern Sjlland (Zealand), Denmark, at the head of Roskilde Fjord. It is named for its legendary founder, Hroar (Ro), and the sacred springs (kilde), several of which remain nearby. The former seat of Danish kings (c. 10201416) and capital of Denmark (until 1443), it has been a bishopric since about 1060 and was Denmark's most important ecclesiastical centre until the Reformation. The Treaty of Roskilde with Sweden was drafted there in 1658. The largest rail junction and traffic centre on Sjlland, its development has been stimulated by proximity to Copenhagen (with which it was connected by the first Danish railway in 1847). The city has tanneries, distilleries, bacon factories, a meat-research institute, and a high school for industrial workers. The Danish Atomic Power Plant and Research Station (1959) is on nearby Ris Peninsula. The city's partly Romanesque, partly Gothic cathedral was begun by Bishop (later archbishop) Absalon about 1170 (consecrated 1464) on the site of two earlier churches. The cathedral is the royal mausoleum where 38 Danish kings and queens are buried, including 16 in an unbroken line from the Reformation to 1972. A museum of Viking relics, including 1,000-year-old longboats, opened in 1969. Roskilde amtskommune (area 344 square miles [891 square km]) was created in 1970 from the Roskilde county council district of the former Kbenhavns amtskommune and the northern part of the former Prst amtskommune. The county is closely linked with the city of Copenhagen. Roskilde and Kge are the major urban centres. The University Centre of Roskilde opened in 1972. Pop. (1981) city, 39,659; (1990 est.) mun., 49,081; amtskommune, 216,964.