The Jelling Stone Replica in London, England

A vivid stone stands beside the Danish Church near Regent's Park in London: a replica of the Jelling Stone, one of Denmark's most celebrated national monuments. Per Atlas Obscura, the original was erected around nine hundred eighty by King Harald Bluetooth as a monument to his parents and a record of his rule over Denmark and Norway. This particular copy was created for a nineteen forty-eight exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum and preserves the bright red, blue, yellow, and black pigments that once adorned the ancient stone. One face depicts what's considered the earliest Scandinavian image of Christ on the cross, another shows a serpent, and a runic inscription records that Harald won Denmark and Norway for himself and made the Danes Christian. The museum gifted the replica to the Danish Church in London in nineteen fifty-five, a symbolic home for the stone that marks Christianity's beginning in Denmark.

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