The par force hunting landscape in North Zealand

Straight rides slice through the forests north of Copenhagen in star patterns and rigid grids — the geometry of royal power laid over nature. Here, in Store Dyrehave, Gribskov and the deer park of Jægersborg Dyrehave, Denmark's absolute monarchs staged par force hunts, pursuing game on horseback with hounds along Baroque-planned lanes marked by numbered stone posts. At its height in the 17th and 18th centuries, the landscape survives intact enough that UNESCO granted it World Heritage status in 2015.