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Principality of Corvinia
A partial tour of central Corvinia

[ Note: All images on this page are thumbnails - click to enlarge ]

Welcome, visitor, to this partial tour of the central regions of Corvinia.

As you will know, Corvinia is a widely-scattered nation, with claims on territories across the world. Should the Principality ever achieve full mastery of the territory claimed, it would have footholds in every climate zone, and most of the world's waters.

In this partial tour, however, we are merely concerned with those portions of the Principality that lie within the immediate vicinity of Copenhagen, capital of the macronation of Denmark.

The climate of this region is mild, which means the winters and the summers are equally wet. Located in one of the most fertile regions in Europe, the waters of central Corvinia are home to a multitude of wildlife - especially birds.

Fugleøen from SWWe begin our tour with the Grand Duchy of Fugleøen, right, located in the waters of Sortedams Sø, one of three artificial lakes surrounding central Copenhagen. This view is from the southwest.

Herons in the trees

As may be seen from the closeup, left, the island is home to a rich and varied bird-life, including the heron (Ardea cinerea) several examples of which are seen perched in the trees of the island. In fact, the island was constructed in the 1930s as a bird sanctuary (Fugleøen means "Bird Island" in Danish), and the Danish authorities normally forbid any human presence on the island.

Cormorants In latter years, a flock of cormorants, right, has also made a home for itself on the island. The cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) has been an endangered bird (fishermen hunted them for stealing a substantial portion of the catch), and is only now recovering from this.

Fugleøen from the NWConcluding our tour of the Grand Duchy with a view from the NW, left, (note the swan in the foreground) we will devote a moment to discuss one very significant Tufted duckinhabitant of the waters around the Grand Duchy - the tufted duck (Aythya fuligula), seen to the right. The tufted duck is ubiquitous in central Corvinia, but especially visible near the Grand Duchy - hence, it is the badge on the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy. This queer little bird, with its strange, staring eye and proud crest, is named a troldand in Danish (which translates as "witchduck").

Fiskeøen from SWOn the second leg of our tour, we visit the Duchy of Fiskeøen, left, also located in Sortedams Sø. Like Fugleøen, Fiskeøen is an artificial island, constructed in the early 1990s. Fiskeøen, however, was constructed to provide a natural shallows in which the fish of the lake might breed (Fiskeøen being Danish for "Fish Island", as Duchess of Fiskeøenyou have surely already surmised). In recent years, Mother Nature has populated the originally barren island with a wide variety of brush, and birds (notably herons, gulls and ducks) have made their home therein. The Duchy of Fiskeøen is held in personal fief by Princess Lone, seen to the right with her diminutive fief in the background, as Duchess of Fiskeøen.

The final stop on our tour is the Duchy of Trekroner, another artificial island (a trend is developing), located in the waters of Copenhagen's harbour mouth. Fearing an attack by a combined anglo-dutch naval force, the Danish military scuttled three ships of the line in the harbour entrance, to act as a naval gun emplacement. One of these ships was the "Trekroner" (Danish: "Three Crowns"), and the battery was named for it. The battery was demolished in 1731, but later, in 1784, a new fortification, to carry the same name, Trekroner seen from Langelinie looking Eastwas planned for a location about 3 kilometers from the old battery. Plagued by massive cost overruns, the new fort was not completed until 1827. Ironically, this was exactly twenty years too late to prevent the massive British bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807. Today, the fortress of Trekroner, right, is no longer a fortification, but functions as a picnic spot and tourist attraction for the city of Copenhagen. Trekroner seen from Langelinie looking East (2)In fact, a regular tour boat ferries large numbers of visitors to the island every day, and a small restaurant is open on the island, during the tourist season.
The most characteristic features of the fortified island of Trekroner are the large central harbour, the massive concrete fortress building, and the 12 meter tall lighthouse, erected 1869, all of which can be seen in the image to the left Trekroner seen from Langelinie looking East (3)(which also shows the banner of the kingdom of Denmark, currently occupying this portion of Corvinia, flying over the island). The final picture in our tour is a closeup of the harbour of Trekroner, right, showing in greater detail the slightly tarnished, but still-impressive fortifications of a fortress that was built as too little, too late.

This tour has been a presentation of the Ministry of Education of the Principality of Corvinia. We hope that you have enjoyed it - and we look forward to presenting further tours of the other regions of the Principality.

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by Peter Ravn Rasmussen

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Last updated: August 10, 1998