Biking green route - ca. 25 miles

The spring is not described in history books, but it had a place among the restorative springs in Denmark and it also gave water to men and animals, where they used  to cross the Ørbæk stream in the old times. It is said about the water from the Ørbæk spring that it is good to use for beer brewing and cooking of cabbage. And especially good for cooking  the traditional Danish dish pea soup and up till these days housewives and maids went to the spring for water, when they wanted to serve pea soup. The spring supplies so much water that it could supply all the water for the local dairy around 200 cubic meters  every 24 hours. The spring was from 1883 to 1986 the only water supply for the dairy.

The whitewashed tiled church was built around the year 1200. It stands on a hill, called The Robber’s Hill. Under the choir there is a crypt with the coffins of the former owners of the manor house Ørbæklunde. The crypt can bee seen from the outside. The church is famous for its murals, by the painter called “The Wooden Shoe Painter”.  There are wooden shoes on the murals. Murals by the same painter or the same workshop is found in 20 churches on Funen. They date back to the 15^th century.

Ørbæklunde was built at the end of the 16^th century, as a fortress. It was built with watchman’s gallery, loopholes and a moat. The house was placed strategically between the roads to Nyborg-Faaborg and Odense-Svendborg. Today the manor house belongs to Lars Hagen Lange, his family have had it since 1781. The house and the garden is closed to the public, but its position gives you a beautiful view of the manor house and the farm buildings.

Built around 1575. It is the only village church from the Renaissance. Hans Christian Andersen did often go to service there during his stays at Glorup. And some people say that he persuaded the count to have an organ installed in 1853. 

Rygård is a small fortress.. In the beginning of the 16^th century the owner Johan Urne started building this  fortress. The house is two storied with a watchman’s gallery and loopholes. In 1535 the citizens of Svendborg took the fortress during a civil war. Rygård is to day owned by Alice Moltke-Huitfeldt, she also owns Glorup Castle. Rygård is not open to the public, but from the nearby farm buildings you have a good view of the fortress and the moat.

The church of Langå has the oldest church bell in the municipality. It dates back to the year 1200, when the church was built. The church was plundered  during the wars with Sweden from 1645- 1660. There is a mural on  the choir vault showing Christ and Pilate and the Resurrection from around 1530.

The Stone of the Lady or The Stone of Hesselager is the largest migrating stone in Denmark. It dates back to the Ice Age. It is 12 meters tall, and 46 meters round and weighs 1000 tons. The stone is gneiss. According to and old myth a witch on the island of Langeland got mad at the tall tower of the church of Svindinge so she hurled a stone at the tower but she missed and the stone landed just outside Hesselager.

Note the magnificent gothic entrance to the church yard  with gates for vehicles and pedestrians. Inside the church is a model of the training ship Denmark. The church dates back to around 1200.

The most notable restorative spring in Funen is by Frørup. There are many myths about the origin of the spring  all including the woman Regisse. In one story Regisse saw her children being killed and then the spring welled up. In another Regisse was a servant in a farm and the farmer killed her. Where she was killed the spring  welled up. The spring was restored in 1993-95 and during that work several relics from the Middle Ages were found. Unfortunately there was no money for further excavations.