Sorø Abbey

Sorø Municipality, Denmark

No longer standing

Demolished or destroyed.

Sorø Abbey, founded in 1161 in the town of Sorø in central Zealand, was the preeminent and wealthiest monastic house in medieval Denmark. Built in the Brick Gothic style characteristic of the period, the abbey was confiscated by the Crown following Denmark's conversion to Lutheranism in 1536 and was demolished in 1538. The site was subsequently transformed into Sorø Academy in 1623, which functioned as a knight academy and center for higher learning during the Danish Golden Age. The institution survives today as a boarding school.