Klostergade ( lit.: Priory-street) is a street in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

which runs east from ''Grønnegade'' to ''Studsgade'', intersecting a number of streets. Klostergade is an old street, situated in the Vesterbro neighborhood and its eastern section enters the smaller

Latin Quarter The Latin Quarter of Paris (french: Quartier latin, ) is an area in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros ...

. Klostergade is home to two

listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and the historic Our Lady's Priory. Klotergade is a typical medieval street; narrow and curvy. Many small shops, cafés and restaurants are situated here and the nearby square ''Klostertorv'' is popular with recreational activities and an important event venue.

History

The street has existed since at least the 1300s when it was known by the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

phrase ''Apud fratres'' (Behind the convent). The name references Our Lady's Priory which is situated on the street and was established no later than 1240. In 1562 the street had become known as ''Bag Klosteret'', the Danish equivalent of the original Latin phrase. The stream ''Borrebækken'' ran through Klostergade to Studsgade where it united with a stream from

Vennelystparken Vennelystparken is the oldest park in the city of Aarhus, constructed in the years 1824 to 1830 between the streets ''Vennelyst Boulevard'' and ''Nørrebrogade''. Through the 19th century up to the Second World War the park was a social focal poin ...

. Klostergade was constructed as an extension of the short street of ''Graven'', running north of the priory and it originally terminated at ''Munkegade'', where the road to

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).Christiansbjerg was established in 1757 and most traffic from Randers went to the city gate in Studsgade. When Nørre Allé was widened and paved, even more traffic bypassed Klostergade. Initially the western section of Klostergade and the southern section of ''Grønnegade'' was known as ''Skidenstræde'' ( Lit.: Shit-alley). In 1830 Skidenstræde became part of Grønnegade until 1909 when the southern section of Grønnegade was made a part of Klostergade.

Buildings

Klostergade gets its name from Our Lady's Priory which is situated on the street. The priory was established by the

Dominican order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

some time in the 1220-30s on the site of the original St. Nicolas cathedral. The cathedral was torn down in stages and the priory built in its stead. Beneath the priory lies a crypt church from the cathedral which may be the oldest stone church in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

. Behind the priory on

Vestergade Vestergade ( lit. "West Street") is a street in central Copenhagen, Denmark, linking Gammeltorv in the northeast with the City Hall Square in the southwest. The street defines the southern boundary of Copenhagen's Latin Quarter. Most of the build ...

lies the Church of Our Lady. Directly across the street from the priory is two listed buildings from 1685 and 1777. The 1685 complex is a

half-timbered Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

structure with a building facing the street, another wing behind it from the 1700s and a basement from the

late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...

. The other listing is a 3-winged estate with a renaissance building from 1812 facing the street and an older half-timbered house from 1777 behind it. Stardust Café.JPG, Several old listed buildings Vor Frue Kloster 4.jpg, The (former) priory attached to the Church of Our Lady has official address at Klostergade. Klosterport.jpg, Klostergade intersects with Klosterport Chokoladefabrikken Elvirasminde 2.jpg, A former Chocolate factory Føtex (Guldsmedgade).jpg, The first supermarket in Denmark from 1960Note: Situated at the crossway between Guldsmedgade and Klostergade, but with official address at Guldsmedgade. Emmerys (Aarhus).jpg, The original store of Emmerys (1918), a Danish chain of organic bakeries. Restaurant Latin.jpg, One of several restaurants

Flora

Inspired by an old

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

tree in the priory gardens two rows of

Aesculus hippocastanum ''Aesculus hippocastanum'', the horse chestnut, is a species of flowering plant in the maple, soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is a large, deciduous, synoecious (hermaphroditic-flowered) tree. It is also called horse-chestnut, Europ ...

chestnuts were planted around the parking area on Klostergade. On the square ''Klostertorv'' an

Acer platanoides ''Acer platanoides'', commonly known as the Norway maple, is a species of maple native to eastern and central Europe and western Asia, from Spain east to Russia, north to southern Scandinavia and southeast to northern Iran. It was introduced to ...

maple was planted around the turn of the 20th century in a courtyard. The buildings around it has since been torn down and the area turned into a large open square. In 1973 a small square on the corner of ''Badstuegade'' was established with 3 lime trees,

Tilia cordata ''Tilia cordata'', the small-leaved lime or small-leaved linden, is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to much of Europe. Other common names include little-leaf or littleleaf linden, or traditionally in South East England, pry or p ...

Notes and references

External links

Klostergade Community Center
{{Coord, 56.1588, 10.2058, region:DK_type:landmark, display=title Streets in Aarhus Odonyms referring to a building Odonyms referring to religion