Егесков сарайы: Данияның Ренессанс кезеңінің су сарайы

Egeskov Castle (Egeskov Slot) is located near Kværndrup, in the south of the island of Funen, Denmark. The castle is Europe's best preserved Renaissance water castle.

Egeskov was first mentioned in 1405. The castle structure was erected by Frands Brockenhuus in 1554. Due to the troubles caused by the civil war known as the Count's Feud (Danish: Grevens fejde), general civil unrest, and a civil war introducing the Protestant Reformation, most Danish noblemen built their homes as fortifications. The castle is constructed on oaken piles and located in a small lake with a maximum depth of Originally, the only access was by means of a drawbridge. According to legend, it took an entire forest of oak trees to build the foundation, hence the name Egeskov (oak forest). The estate has belonged to the Bille Brahe family since 1784, when they acquired it from descendants of the Brockenhuus family. In 1882 it was inherited by the counts Ahlefeldt Laurvig Bille, who still own it.

Outside, the castle is a Late Gothic building. Inside the original elements already show Renaissance design. The castle consists of two long buildings connected by a thick double wall, allowing defenders to abandon one house and continue fighting from the other. The double wall is over one meter thick and contains secret staircases and a well. Defenders were able to attack an enemy's flanks from the two round corner towers. Other medieval defences include artillery ports, scalding holes and arrow slits. The bricks composing the castle are of an oversized medieval type sometimes called "monks bricks". The conical towers are constructed in a series of separate panels. The architecture includes depressed and round arched windows, round arched blank arcading within the gables, and a double string course between the high cellar and the ground floor. The structure contains some of the early indoor plumbing design first used in Europe with vertical shafts for waste. The thick double wall also contains a water well which is accessed from the servants kitchen in the east house. Several of the large rooms have massive parallel exposed beams with some end carving.

Contents of the castle include a massive iron chest from at least as early as the 16th century, which derived from Hvedholm Castle, a property earlier owned by the Egeskov estate about twenty kilometers to the west. Numerous oil paintings are found within the castle including a large painting in the great hall on the first floor of Niels Juel, who defeated the Swedish force in the Battle of Køge Bay in the year 1677.

Other buildings belonging to Egeskov include Ladegården, a thatched half timbered building which is now part of the museum. Other buildings are used by the museum and for farming. Surrounding the castle is an old park, covering 20 hectares (49 acres) of land. The park is divided into a number of gardens. The renaissance garden features fountains, a gravel path and topiary figures. The fuchsia garden, one of the largest in Europe, contains 104 different species. Other gardens near the castle include an English garden, a water garden, an herb garden, a vegetable garden, and a peasant's garden (bondehave). The gardens also feature four hedge mazes. The oldest is a beech maze several hundreds of years old. This garden is trimmed every year to prevent the trees from dying. The newest maze is the world's largest bamboo maze. It features a Chinese tower in the centre, and a bridge from the tower provides the exit from the maze. The parks feature a three meter tall sundial designed by Danish poet and mathematician, Piet Hein. The land surrounding the castle also includes a number of playgrounds and children's play structures. The estate includes an additional eight square kilometres; is forest, with the rest being farmland. In 1986, a full sized replica of the castle was built in Hokkaidō, Japan, to hold an aquarium. This was constructed with the permission of the Egeskov's owners at the time, Count Claus and Countess Louisa Ahlefeldt Laurvig Bille.

FromToOwnerc. 1405 Lydike and Jørgen Skinkelc. 1470 Johan Sinkel1516 Otto and Poul Skinkel 1518 1533 Laurids Skinkel 1533 1536 Hilleborg Pedersdatter Bille and her daughters Anne, Hilleborg and Rigborg 1536 1545 Anne, Hilleborg and Rigborg 1545 1569 Frands Brockenhuus 1569 1604 Laurids Brockenhuus 1604 1615 Laurids Brockenhuus's heirs 1615 1615 Hans Pogwish 1616 1630 Jacob Ulfeldt 1630 1640 The children of Jacob Ulfeldt 1640 1648 Laurids Ulfeldt 1648 1656 Oluf Parsberg 1656 1666 Otto Krag 1666 1688 Anna Rosenkrantz 1688 1713 Niels Krag the Elder 1713 1722 The widow of Niels Krag 1722 1740 Niels Krag the Younger 1740 1784 Sofie Juel 1784 1789 Henrik Bille Brahe 1789 1810 Car. Agnese Raben 1810 1857 Preben Bille Brahe 1857 1871 Fr. Siegfried Bille Brahe 1871 1882 Frantz Preben Bille Brahe 1882 1912 Jul. Ahlefeldt Laurvig Bille 1912 1919 C. Jessy Bille Brahe 1919 1946 Fr. Pr. Ahlefeldt Laurvig Bille 1946 1985 Gregers and Nonni Ahlefeldt Laurvig Bille 1985 1994 Claus and Louisa Ahlefeldt Laurvig Bille1994 — Michael Ahlefeldt Laurvig Bille