Odense Odense Bulldogs professional ice hockey team, and the city also hosts the H.C. Andersen Marathon. Odense is served by Hans Christian Andersen Airport and Odense station, which lies on the line between Copenhagen and the Jutland peninsula. The name Odense is derived from "Odins Vé", meaning "Odin's sanctuary" as the area was known as a sanctuary for worshippers of the Nordic god, Odin. Odense is one of Denmark's oldest cities. Archaeological excavations in the vicinity show proof of settlement for over 4,000 years since at least the Stone Age. The earliest community was centred on the higher ground between the
Odense Palace Odense Palace Odense Palace () in the city of Odense on the Danish island of Funen has its origins in a 15th-century monastery which passed to the Crown after the Reformation, and since then has served as an administrative building: in turn as a seigneurial residence, an amt administrator's residence, a governor's residence, and a municipal government building. The main white Baroque building with 13 bays was designed by J.C. Krieger and completed in 1723. The Knights of St John are first mentioned in Odense in 1280. They appear to have acquired a monastery around 1400; during the next century