After Kerteminde we continued north along the Hindsholm peninsula towards Martofte. The village itself is small, and the reason this stop stood out for us was not the centre of Martofte but Mårhøj/Snavehøjen, where we stopped to see one of the most impressive prehistoric monuments on Funen.
From the outside Mårhøj looks like a large grassy mound in the middle of the fields. The interesting part is inside. It is a Neolithic passage grave, built thousands of years before the Viking Age, with a narrow passage leading into a surprisingly large stone chamber. We went to see it at close range, and the scale becomes much clearer once you reach the entrance: this is not simply a small hole beneath a mound.
The entrance passage is about seven metres long and leads to a chamber roughly ten metres long, high enough for an adult to stand inside. Eighteen large stones form the sides and seven enormous capstones cover the chamber. Mårhøj is considered the largest single-chamber passage grave in Denmark, and it was formally protected in 1888.
Getting inside is part of the experience. The passage is low and narrow, so reaching the main chamber requires crouching and in places getting very close to the ground. Once inside, the size of the room is unexpected considering that the entire structure was built during the Neolithic period using enormous stones without modern machinery.
Passage graves like this were collective burial monuments rather than graves for a single person. They were built during Denmark’s early farming period, when permanent agricultural communities were becoming established. The dead could be placed in the chamber over a long period, and archaeological evidence from similar monuments shows that food and pottery were sometimes deposited as offerings.
Mårhøj is particularly important because so many of Funen’s megalithic graves disappeared over the centuries. Large stones were useful for buildings and roads, while other burial monuments were simply removed when they obstructed farming. Hindsholm is one of the areas where a significant concentration survived, and Mårhøj is among the best-preserved examples.
There is also an interesting connection with Johannes Larsen, the Kerteminde painter we had already encountered on this part of the trip. He was interested not only in birds and landscapes but also in archaeology and local history, and he made a drawing of the entrance to Mårhøj. It is a small link between the prehistoric landscape around Martofte and the group of artists associated with Kerteminde.
Continuing north from Martofte leads towards Fyns Hoved, the northernmost point of Hindsholm and one of the more unusual landscapes on Funen. The peninsula becomes progressively narrower until water surrounds the land on several sides. On a clear day it is possible to see towards Jutland, Zealand and Samsø.
The area is also unusually dry by Danish standards. Annual rainfall around Fyns Hoved is roughly 450 millimetres, compared with a Danish average of about 650 millimetres. That relatively dry and sunny climate supports plants and insects that are uncommon elsewhere in Denmark, while the shallow coastal areas are important for wading birds and porpoises.
Fyns Hoved also has a much more recent military history. During the Second World War German forces occupied the headland, installed radar equipment and anti-aircraft guns and built a coastal position with four 150-millimetre guns. The existing road could not carry the heavy equipment, so a new access road was constructed. Those guns were later moved to Langelandsfortet, where they became part of the Cold War fortifications.
For us, Martofte was therefore less about visiting a conventional Danish town and more about the landscape and archaeology of northern Hindsholm. Mårhøj was the main reason for the stop: a prehistoric burial chamber that can still be entered rather than simply viewed from behind a fence or through a museum display.
After the harbour towns and larger stops elsewhere on Funen, this was something completely different. There was no need for a long list of attractions. The combination of Mårhøj, the open countryside and the road continuing towards Fyns Hoved was enough to make Martofte a worthwhile stop on this part of the route.