Hundehoved Dolmen at Raklev Church
On the hilltop east of Raklev Church lies a stone circle with the remains of three dolmens – one with a capstone shaped like a dog's head. Golden Age painter J.Th. Lundbye drew the site and its two tall standing stones many times. Today it is a quiet ancient monument in a residential area, just minutes from Kalundborg.
Raklev is now a northern suburb of Kalundborg, but the old village church still stands on its hill, and just east of it you will find one of the most distinctive ancient monuments in the area. The Hundehoved Dolmen takes its name from the shape of its capstone, which resembles a dog's head (hundehoved in Danish). In the National Museum's register the site is called Underdyssen. It is one of the Lundbye Landmarks, because the Golden Age painter J.Th. Lundbye returned here again and again with his sketchbook.
A stone circle with three dolmens
The dolmen lies within a larger stone circle on the highest point in the area. Originally the circle held three dolmens. Of the middle one, only the burial chamber remains as a hollow in the ground, while the eastern one still has some of its supporting stones. At the western end of the circle, facing the church, stand two large standing stones. These in particular caught Lundbye's interest, and he drew and coloured them several times.
Lundbye's drawings
On 31 July 1839 Lundbye made a pen drawing of the site by Raklev Church, and the same year he painted a watercolour of the two stones at the end of the stone circle. The motif later reappeared in a woodcut for an almanac and in drawings of the little troll Sindre, who features in several of Lundbye's pictures. For him the site was both a study of ancient stones and a stage for legends and fairy tales. Other artists found their way here too. The painter Jacob Kornerup made a watercolour of the dolmen from the south in 1872, with a view towards Sejerø Bay.
The landscape then and now
In Lundbye's day the hill was open, with views over fields, town and fjord to the south and over Sejerø Bay to the north. Today the view to the south is largely hidden by houses and trees, and the stones look smaller in reality than in the drawings. That very difference makes a visit interesting. You can see how the artist gave the stones monumental weight, and how the landscape around them has changed in less than 200 years.
Raklev Church
The whitewashed church on the hill is worth a look. It was built shortly after the Reformation, with its foundation stone laid in 1547, and has stepped gables and an unusually wide nave. The font is older than the church itself and dates from the 13th century. Church and dolmen stand side by side on the same hill and together tell of several thousand years of life in the landscape.
How to find it
The best access is from Højen, a cul-de-sac off Raklev Høje. Opposite house number 24 you can walk diagonally across the shared green to the stone circle in the corner nearest the church. Please be considerate of local residents. Vrie Dolmen, which Lundbye painted in 1839, lies about half a kilometre away, so the two sites are easy to combine on a short walk or bike ride from Kalundborg town centre. Find more ancient monuments and experiences in the region at destinationsjaelland.dk.
Who is it for?
The site is for lovers of prehistory, legends and art history, and for families looking for a small discovery close to town. Bring Lundbye's drawings on your phone and see if you can spot the two standing stones.
Last updated by:Destination Sjællandinfo@desj.dk
