Соро: Данияның тарихы мен мәдениетінің қаласы

Town in Region Zealand, Denmark

Sorø is a town in Sorø municipality on the island of Zealand in east Denmark with a population of 8,271 (2023). It lies on the northeastern shore of Sorø Lake. The municipal council and the regional council are located in Sorø. The town was founded in the 12th century by Bishop Absalon, as a Cistercian Abbey. The site also contained Sorø Klosterkirke, the church where Bishop Absalon and Margaret I of Denmark were buried (she was later moved to Roskilde Domkirke). In the 16th century, the Abbey was converted into a school, which became Sorø Academy. Despite the construction of a rail line through the town in the mid 19th century, the academy remained the core of the settlement, and Sorø has limited industry. Today, Sorø is a commuter town, as much of its population works in either greater Copenhagen or Roskilde. Sorø has a number of museums, including Sorø Museum, Sorø Art Museum, and the Hauch Collection at Sorø Academy. In addition, there are many historical buildings in the town; the Abbey gate dates to the 1160s.

Over the course of its early history, the town was referred to as Sora, Soor, Soram, Soræ, Zore, and Soerøe. The spelling Sorø has been in use since the 15th century. Its name is derived from the neighboring lake (Danish: Sorø Sø), and means "the damp lake" or "the muddy lake." Allegedly, Absalon choose to replace the Benedictine order as they were ill equipped to run the monastery grounds, and the Cistercians had more experience with land management. Sorø Abbey became the largest and wealthiest monastic site in Denmark, complete with a school for the training of clergy. The abbey's status, however, did not last. By the time of the reformation in 1536, the monastery was used exclusively as a retirement home for monks. Sorø was allowed to remain a Protestant monastery to administer its large land possessions. In 1586, King Frederik II formally abolished the monastery, foundeding a boarding school on the site for the boys of the bourgeoisie and nobility, which eventually became known as Sorø Academy. The school's first independent buildings were constructed in 1747 following the bequest of most of Ludvig Holberg's estate to the academy.

The forests, lakes, and marshes which surround Sorø made it difficult to establish trade routes through the settlement. A small urban community with a number of craftsmen had grown in Sorø following its market town privileges, but most farmers in the area still preferred to travel to older markets to trade their harvests, and so the town struggled to maintain a significant trade. In contrast to most other Danish towns, the arrival of the railway did not result in a significant increase in industrialisation, and the town remained dominated by the academy, and other schools which had been founded in the area.