Volden ( Lit. The Rampart) is a 180 meters long 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, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

, Denmark, situated in the historic Latin Quarter neighborhood. Volden runs from south to north from Store Torv to Graven and intersects ''Rosensgade'' roughly in the middle. Volden was created some time before year 1500 on and in the westernmost

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department ** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...

used to defend the early

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

settlement. It is one of the oldest streets in the city and used to mark the western city limits. Volden is fairly narrow and is a pedestrianized street with cars forbidden access.

History

The early Viking settlement was defended by moats and ramparts to the north, west and south. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

the city grew beyond the boundaries marked by these defenses and at the same time advents in warfare had made such structures less useful for defense. Some time before 1500 the ramparts and moats were dismantled and the street Volden was established on the former westernmost rampart. The street ''Badstuegade'' runs parallel to Volden to the west and archaeological excavations have shown evidence of a former moat and the foundations of an old city gate by the building ''Borgporten'' ( Lit. Castle Gate). It is believed the surplus earth from the rampart was used to fill in the moat ''Badstuegade'' was established on. Until 1867 the southern section of Volden, nearest Store Torv, was called ''Pustervig'' which is a common name known from other Danish cities. The word "puz" means water-filled hole or mud-pit so some theories speculate that the area may have been swampy. Another theory is that it is related to blacksmiths which at the time were called ' (coal-blowers) for their use of bellows. Additionally, blacksmiths in medieval towns tended to be located at the outskirts or by open areas to protect thatched housing from fire and embers. The building on the corner of Volden and ''Rosensgade'' was called ' (smith's house) until 1562 and was owned by the blacksmiths' guild. The name ' can then best be translated as ' (Smith street) and it was likely where blacksmiths plied their trade in the

Gallery

Aarhus - town - panoramio (5).jpg Gadeskilt Volden.JPG Graven, 2015-09-01-1.jpg Graven, 2015-09-01-2.jpg Graven, 2015-09-01-3.jpg Mefisto (restaurant).jpg Rosensgade, Aarhus1.JPG Volden ved aften.JPG

References

;Publications *

External links

{{commons category, Volden, position=left Streets in Aarhus