From the street it looks like any other classic Copenhagen shopfront, but behind the window on the corner of Stormgade and H.C. Andersens Boulevard archaeologists sit sorting, washing and registering finds dug up from beneath the city's streets. The Archaeological Workshop (Arkaeologisk Vaerksted) is a working facility of the Museum of Copenhagen, opened in 2017 on the back of the huge public interest in archaeology generated by the metro excavations. On selected open days - typically during school holidays, festivals such as Kulturnatten, and a weekly afternoon slot in parts of the year - visitors of all ages can look over the archaeologists' shoulders as they process ceramics, glass, clay pipes, leather shoes, knitted stockings, animal bones and other everyday objects from medieval and early-modern Copenhagen, and ask questions about both the finds and the methods. It is a rare chance to see the part of museum work that normally happens behind closed doors, before objects disappear into storage or display. The workshop sits next door to the main Museum of Copenhagen at Stormgade 18, and the museum's school service runs teaching programmes here for nurseries and school classes. Opening days are announced on the museum's website and social media; admission is generally free or included with a museum ticket, and under-18s enter free. The finds passing across the tables span centuries of city life - potsherds and clay pipes several hundred years old, silk caps, dice, combs and the bones of long-eaten dinners - and in winter seasons the workshop has opened free of charge on Wednesday afternoons so passers-by can watch registration and packing in progress. Family events pair a session with the archaeologists with children's brunch in the museum cafe Spirrevippen at Stormgade 18 next door, and the whole complex sits within sight of the National Museum, Christiansborg and the Tivoli corner of the boulevard.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: Stormgade 20, Copenhagen, Denmark, 1555

Website: https://cphmuseum.kk.dk

Opening Date: 01/01/2017