Church of Our Saviour

The black and gold spire of the Church of Our Saviour, Vor Frelsers Kirke, twisting up into the sky above Christianshavn, is one of the defining sights of the Copenhagen skyline, and climbing it is one of the city's great small adventures. The church itself was built in the late seventeenth century and consecrated in 1696, a Dutch Baroque building of red brick, and for decades it stood with only a stump of a tower. The spire was added in 1752 to a design by the architect Lauritz de Thurah, and it is a corkscrew with an external staircase that winds around it four times, climbing to a golden globe crowned by a figure of Christ with a banner, ninety metres above the ground. The climb has about four hundred steps in all. The first two hundred and fifty take you up through the old tower, past the bells of the carillon, by steep wooden stairs and ladders, and the last hundred and fifty spiral around the outside of the spire, narrowing as they go, until the final steps are barely wide enough for one person. The views from the outside staircase reach across the rooftops and canals of Christianshavn, the harbour, the old city, Christiansborg and, on clear days, the Oresund Bridge and Sweden. It is not for anyone with a fear of heights, and the tower closes without warning in strong winds or heavy rain, but on a fine day it is unforgettable. The tower requires a timed slot booked in advance in busy periods, including for Copenhagen Card holders, and the entry fee is modest. Leave time for the church below, which is free to enter outside services. Its great organ, built by the Botzen brothers in the 1690s and restored in 1965, rests on two carved elephants, a reference to the Order of the Elephant, and its facade pipes are the oldest in Copenhagen. The carillon of 48 bells, the first in modern Scandinavia, plays tunes over Christianshavn, and the Baroque altar was added in 1732.

A local legend says that the architect threw himself from the top when he realised the spiral turned the wrong way, anticlockwise when seen from the ground. The church itself says the story is untrue: Thurah died in his bed some years later, and the direction of the spiral was intended. The story persists because it is a good one, and you will hear it from guides on the canal boats that pass beneath the church. The tower was last restored in the 1990s, and the gold on the globe and the figure catches the sun across the whole city.

How to climb it well: book a slot online, choose a clear, calm day and go early or late in the day for the best light and the fewest people on the narrow outer stairs. Wear shoes with good grip, as the steps can be slippery in wet weather, and leave large bags behind, as the inner stairs are steep and cramped. The final stretch is a one-way bottleneck, so be ready to wait while others pass. Children can climb with adults, but think carefully with younger ones, as the top is very exposed. The whole climb, up and down with time at the top, takes about forty-five minutes.

Christianshavn is one of the most charming neighbourhoods in Copenhagen and the church makes a perfect centre for a walk. The canal of Christianshavn, lined with houseboats and old merchants' houses, is a few steps away, and Christiania, the free town, is just behind the church. Cross the Inderhavnsbroen bridge to Nyhavn in ten minutes, or continue to Refshaleoen and Reffen for street food on the harbour. Canal tours pass right by, so a boat trip in the morning and a climb in the afternoon shows you the same district from the water and from the sky.