Welcome to the Tivoli Gardens in the heart of the Danish capital city of Copenhagen, an obligatory stop for every visit to the city, specially if you are travelling as a family unit.

More commonly known as simply Tivoli, this famous amusement park and pleasure garden opened on 15 August 1843 and is the second-oldest operating amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Klampenborg, also in Denmark. With over 4 million visitors in 2015, Tivoli is the second-most popular seasonal amusement park in the world after Europa-Park, the most-visited theme park in Scandinavia, and the third most-visited in Europe, only behind Disneyland Paris and Europa-Park.

The amusement park was first called "Tivoli & Vauxhall”: "Tivoli" alluding to the Jardin de Tivoli in Paris (which in its turn had been named from Tivoli near Rome, Italy),"Vauxhall" alluding to the Vauxhall Gardens in London. 

Tivoli's founder, Georg Carstensen (b. 1812 – d. 1857), obtained a five-year charter to create Tivoli by telling King Christian VIII that "when the people are amusing themselves, they do not think about politics". The monarch granted Carstensen use of roughly 15 acres of the fortified glacis outside Vesterport (the West Gate) for an annual rent. Therefore, until the 1850s, Tivoli was outside the city, accessible through Vesterport.

From the very start, Tivoli included a variety of attractions: buildings in the exotic style of an imaginary Orient: a theatre, band stands, restaurants and cafés, flower gardens, and mechanical amusement rides such as a merry-go-round and a primitive scenic railway. After dark, colored lamps illuminated the gardens. On certain evenings, specially designed fireworks could be seen reflected in Tivoli's lake.

Composer Hans Christian Lumbye (b. 1810 – d. 1874) was Tivoli's musical director from 1843 to 1872. Lumbye was inspired by Viennese waltz composers like the Strauss family (Johann Strauss I and his sons), and became known as the "Strauss of the North."

Many of his compositions are specifically inspired by the gardens, including "Salute to the Ticket Holders of Tivoli", "Carnival Joys" and "A Festive Night at Tivoli". The Tivoli Symphony Orchestra still performs many of his works.

In 1874, Chinese style Pantomimeteatret (The Pantomime Theatre) took the place of an older smaller theatre. The audience stands in the open, the stage being inside the building. The theatre's "curtain" is a mechanical peacock's tail. From the very beginning, the theatre was the home of Italian pantomimes, introduced in Denmark by the Italian Giuseppe Casorti. This tradition, which is dependent on the Italian Commedia dell'Arte has been kept alive, including the characters Cassander (the old father), Columbine (his beautiful daughter), Harlequin (her lover), and, especially popular with the youngest spectators, the stupid servant Pierrot. The absence of spoken dialogue is an advantage, as Tivoli is now an international tourist attraction.

In 1943, Nazi sympathisers burnt many of Tivoli's buildings, including the concert hall, to the ground. Temporary buildings were constructed in their place and the park was back in operation after a few weeks.

ivoli is always evolving without abandoning its original charm or traditions. As Georg Carstensen said in 1844, "Tivoli will never, so to speak, be finished," a sentiment echoed just over a century later when Walt Disney said of his own Tivoli-inspired theme park, "Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world." In Swedish, tivoli has become synonymous with any amusement park.

So that is the history of this iconic amusement park, and if you're in Copenhagen, you should go a spend an evening there. The park changes from a family oriented, fun ride driven place to a more romantic place as the sun sets and the artificial lights are turned on. If you can't spare a full evening, at least stop by for diner and a stroll, you won't be disappointed.
Next week I'll be focusing on the Rosenborg Castle and the surrounding museums and botanic garden.
Until then,
Keep wandering this rock of ours.