Midtbyen (lit. "The Mid-town"), also known as Aarhus Center or City, is the inner part of

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 northwe ...

. Midtbyen is part of district

Aarhus C Aarhus C is a postal district in the city of Aarhus, Denmark, consisting of the Inner city, Vesterbro, University of Aarhus, Frederiksbjerg, Langenæs and Aarhus Ø, with postal code 8000. The district is commonly defined as the area enclosed ...

, with postal code 8000, together with Vesterbro,

Nørre Stenbro Nørre Stenbro is a small neighborhood in the city of Aarhus, Denmark home to some 3,000 residents. The neighborhood is part of the Aarhus C district and borders the neighborhoods of Indre By south and west, Aarhus Docklands in the east and Trøjb ...

and

Frederiksbjerg Frederiksbjerg is a borough in Aarhus, Denmark. Frederiksbjerg is part of the postal district Aarhus C and is located just south of the historical city centre, separated from it by a broad railway yard and connected by three bridges. Despite being ...

and it has a population of 55,000. Midtbyen is characterized by narrow, winding, cobbled streets and a busy street life, with many small squares, cafés and shops. Parts of the old town center has been saved and protected from destructive modern development and can be experienced in the neighbourhood of Latinerkvarteret, but old individual listed houses are scattered all across Midtbyen. A large part of the area is carfree and the neighborhood has been increasingly pedestrianised. The square of

Store Torv Store Torv ( lit. Great Square) is a public square located in the Indre By neighborhood in Aarhus, Denmark. It is situated between Lille Torv and Aarhus Cathedral, shaped as an elongated triangle. It is the largest public square in Aarhus and one ...

(lit.: ''large square'') in front of the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

, forms a natural centre of the large pedestrian zone. The stream of Aarhus Å flows through Midtbyen and adds to the areas' distinct charm. The waterway was covered by roads for many decades, but has recently been opened up again.

History

Midtbyen comprise the oldest part of the city of

and was where the town itself originated more than a thousand years ago. Midtbyen dates back to at least late 700 AD, at the beginning of the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...

and was originally and previously confined by fortifications and walls. Nowadays the defensive walls are long gone, but survive in placenames such as Nørreport (English: ''Northern Gate'') and a number of streets named after their location relative to the old town center, such as Søndergade, Nørregade and

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 buil ...

meaning ''southern street'', ''northern street'' and ''western street'' respectively. A similar naming structure can be observed in many older Danish towns and cities. The canal of the

Aarhus River Aarhus River ( da, Århus Å) is a long river or stream, in eastern Jutland, Denmark. The river flows through the large river valley of Aarhus Ådal. The valley itself, stretches from Silkeborg to the coastal city of Aarhus, but the Aarhus ...

runs through Midtbyen, along the street of Åboulevarden and was important to the development of the early settlements, that sprawled around it.

Infrastructure

The streets in Midtbyen are mostly narrow and laid out in a somewhat chaotic pattern. Many are closed to motorized traffic, instead serving as

pedestrian zone Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

s with a lively street life and shopping opportunities. Outside of these areas, a lot of the roads are one way directed and it can be difficult to navigate or find a free parking spot, if you do not know the area well. Midtbyen has some heavy traffic during rush hours and it can also be a problem. To guide the traffic and take of the pressure, the inner city of Aarhus is surrounded by a number of

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

s. In Midtbyen, the streets of Nørre Allé (''Northern Avenue''), Vester Allé (''Western Avenue'') and Sønder Allé (''Southern Avenue''), works as a ring road, following the former city walls of medieval times and guiding the traffic around the narrow and most difficult streets of the inner centre. There are several large car parks in or just outside the city centre, including

Magasin du Nord Magasin is a Danish chain of department stores. It has seven department stores with its flagship store located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The company is a subsidiary of the German department store retailer Peek & Cloppenburg Düsseldorf, M ...

Dokk1 Dokk1 or Dokken is a government building, public library and culture center in Aarhus, Denmark. It is situated on '' Hack Kampmanns Plads'' in the city center by the waterfront next to the Custom House. Dokk1 is part of the much larger development ...

, Salling, Brunn's Galleri,

Scandinavian Center Scandinavian Center is a convention center in Aarhus, Denmark situated in the Midtbyen neighborhood at the city square of ''Margrethepladsen''. Scandinavian Center was finished in 1995 by designs of the architect practice Friis & Moltke in a mo ...

and Storcenter Nord. Most of the yellow city buses in Aarhus pass through Midtbyen, while the blue regional and Inter-city buses terminate at the Aarhus Bus Terminal close to the

Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

. The street of Park Allé (''Park Avenue'') next to the

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

, serves as a major bus hub. Even though the traffic situation can be difficult for motorized vehicles, it is fairly easy and safe to walk or bike around Midtbyen. Major roads has bike paths next to them and some streets are dedicated bike roads. It is not allowed to bike in the pedestrianised zones.

Gallery

Lille Torv (maj) 01.jpg, Lille Torv, one of many cobblestone squares Aarhus Cathedral (Bispetorvet).jpg, Aarhus Cathedral Bispetorv (Aarhus) 01.jpg, Aarhus theatre at the central square of Bispetorvet. Museumsgade 2 (facade).jpg, Historicist architecture Mølleparken (åen) 01.jpg, The Aarhus Canal. It was vital to the city's early development. Strøget (maj).jpg, ''Strøget'', central pedestrianized shopping street Århus Rådhus 01.jpg, Aarhus City Hall ARoS Arhus Art Museum - panoramio.jpg, ARoS art museum Vennelystparken (maj) 05.jpg, University Park

Sources

* Magistratens 2. Afdeling (1984):
Den Indre By - Århus
' Kommuneatlas, Aarhus Municipality.

External links

{{Aarhus Aarhus C

History

Infrastructure

Gallery

See also

Sources

External links