ArticleA Phantom Castle

But for Juliet's house, Verona would have had to rely upon its Arena to support its claim to fame - and that claim would have been only partially successful. The concept of operas under the stars is indeed quite unique but, considering that the Roman Empire stretched in all directions throughout Europe and beyond, a Roman amphitheatre, as such, is somewhat more common. After all, in Italy alone, there are seven of those. Verona's abode of love has no such competition as there are precious few physical structures that exist in a gray area between reality and imagination. Sherlock Holmes' Baker Street apartment being the most obvious example, one might also recall Elsinore - the castle immortalized by Shakespeare's “Hamlet”. While the former proves logically and unequivocally that Sherlock Holmes could and must have existed, the latter starts playing mind games with its visitors even before they put their foot over its threshold.

To start with, there is no such castle as Elsinore - in Denmark or anywhere. However, there is a city in Denmark called Helsingor, and it does have a castle. The castle stands right on Oresund - the strait connecting/dividing Denmark and Sweden. For centuries, the area has been hotly contested between the two countries, and the castle's name reflects that tension. It's called Kronborg, literally meaning “Crown's Fortress”. Is Kronborg in Helsingor the same as Elsinor? Hardly a visitor isn't curious to hear the answer, and the castle staff is extremely helpful: “Oh, it's just a beautiful fairy tale. We've had real kings and queens, and everybody knows their names. By the way, you should have seen ”Hamlet" staged right here, in the bailey - it was so authentic. Can you imagine, the creators of that famous movie shot it elsewhere?! Nobody even tried to negotiate with our management regarding shooting the movie in our castle, the real home of the Danish prince!" Talk about dichotomy between national pride and unwillingness to have anything to do with a kingdom where “something is rotten”… 

The specter of Elsinor haunts Kronborg and affects one's perception of every story told about it. A secret passage connecting the Queen's Chamber  with the biggest dancing hall in Europe built in Kronborg in 1582 - so that Danish queen could take French leave whenever she felt like it… Danish kings sleeping in their bed in a seated position - so that angels, descending from Heaven to transfer yet another righteous royalty straight to Paradise, wouldn't have to fly too far… Holger the Warrior who singlehandedly defeated every enemy of the kingdom, then took a leave to travel the world and make friends. After years of traveling he became homesick but had no money to take a ship back home - so, he had to return on foot. It took some time and tired him just a bit. That's why upon returning to the barracks located in Kronborg's basement he took a nap and asked his fellow soldiers to wake him up if there was any threat to the country. Judging by the fact that he is still asleep, Denmark must have been safe for all those centuries, the WWII and such notwithstanding…