First published: 03/05/16.

Ian Cade 0.5

Par Force Hunting Landscape

Par force hunting landscape (Inscribed)

Par force hunting landscape by Ian Cade

Ugh, the very nadir of visiting World Heritage sites for me.

If you have been to a Baroque Palace, and gone for a really long walk to the far far end of the gardens, to that bit on the map that doesn’t seem to have any redeeming features, then you will have a pretty good idea of what this site is like.

It is a landscape shaped by the landed gentry to go hunting with dogs, and the reality is even less interesting than it sounds. Basically there are patches of trees occasionally separated by straight diagonal stretches of grass which help show the nobility's command over the land (and their subjects) and that is essentially the Outstanding Universal Value of the site. Hmm.

If you are really lucky you can catch a glimpse of a dreary medium sized palace on a hill a few kilometres away!!

There is a nearby museum and two other patches of land inscribed if you have a stronger stomach for this sort of thing than me.

On the plus side, it is a pleasant green space and it is easily accessible from the Danish capital. I imagine if I lived in Copenhagen it would be a charming place to come for recreation at weekends to help burn off some of those delicious Wienerbrød. There was quite a lot of bird life, and I enjoyed watching some golfers play a few holes on the Royal Copenhagen Golf Course, which sits at the heart of the site. The station at Klampenborg offers direct access into the park, though I was more interested in Arne Jacobsen’s Bellavista housing estate on the other side of the station, a nice piece of mid century modernism.

But merely being accessible and pleasant isn’t really good enough to become a World Heritage Site in my book.

Go for a visit, because you want to get some exercise in a bit of green space near the Danish capital.

Don’t go for a visit because it is a World Heritage Site, it will only encourage more of the interminably middling European landscapes to try and get inscribed on the list and drag down its good name. I feel somewhat embarrassed at having indulged it.

I may have gone a little overboard with my condemnation, but to be honest this is probably the worst WHS I’ve visited.

Site 1: Experience 2

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