Nakskov

Nakskov is Lolland's largest city and most important port, with a history stretching back to some of the oldest known traces of human settlement in Denmark: reindeer-hunter sites up to 14,000 years old have been found on the city's outskirts. Nakskov's official age as a market town dates from 1266, and its fertile hinterland and favourable position for trade with northern Germany brought prosperity through the Middle Ages and Renaissance — despite being burned by Lübeck in 1510 and struck by plague in 1629. In the modern era, Nakskov became a port and industrial city: the sugar factory opened in 1882–83, and Nakskov Shipyard, founded in 1916, built vessels including the school ship Danmark and the hospital ship Jutlandia. The shipyard closed in 1987, but the sugar factory still operates. Today Nakskov is a natural base for nature experiences at Nakskov Fjord and the archipelago-like waters to the west.