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Founded: 1743Category: Miscellaneous historic sites in Denmark
Historical period: Absolutism (Denmark)
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Torkilstrup Windmill dates from 1743 and is one of the country's few post mills which still stand on their original site. Standing on a hill to the south of the village, the grain mill dates back to c. 1650. Hans Mortensen acquired it in 1726, operating it for the next 44 years. In 1743, he rebuilt the mill, recording the date on an interior beam around a heart containing his initials (HMSM) together with those of his wife (AMPD) Anna Margrethe Pedersdatter. Mortensen must have been a thrifty individual. On his death at the age of 65, in addition to a chiming clock, an iron stove, a four-poster bed, a Bible and a German prayerbook, he left an amount of over 793 rigsdaler, an exceptionally high amount of money for a farmer of his day. The mill remained in operation until 1945.
The rectangular mill stands on a fieldstone foundation. The wooden body of the mill is faced with shingles. The boat-shaped roof is also covered with shingles. It has latticed vanes with a span of 18 m, designed to be covered with sailcloth. The mill can be rotated by means of a manually operated yaw. For a period, a bakery was attached to the mill. The workings of the mill have been preserved and include grinders, an oat roller, a drum sieve, a cap wheel, a crown drive and a vane shaft.
Equipped with tables and benches for picnics, the area around the mill can be freely accessed. The mill itself is open to visitors on Ascension Day from 10 am to noon, on the third Sunday in June (Danish mill day) from 10 am to 2 pm, and on the day the harvest festival is celebrated in Torkilstrup Church. It can also be visited by appointment.
References:The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.
The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.
The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.