Elsinore (Dan. Helsingör), a town and seaport of Denmark, on the island of Zealand, is situated on the western shore of the Sound, and at its narrowest part, 2½ miles nearly due west of Helsingborg in Sweden, and 37 by rail N. of Copenhagen. The town, which has been in recent times considerably improved, consists of one principal street, with several lateral branches. The harbour (enlarged in 1883-84) has 18 to 20 feet of water, and the roadstead outside affords excellent anchorage. Elsinore has considerable trade, and some ship-building. Pop. 11,082. The Sound dues were collected here until their abolition in 1857.
Saxo Grammaticus, a famous writer of the 12th century, was born at Elsinore, and here too Shakespeare lays the scene of Hamlet. Elsinore was raised to the rank of a town in 1416; it was several times destroyed by the Hanseatic League, and in 1658 was taken by the Swedes, but restored to Denmark two years later. A short distance east of the town is the fortified castle of Kronborg, built in the Dutch Renaissance style by Frederick II. in 1580, while to the north-west of Elsinore stands the royal castle of Marienlyst, now much visited as a seaside resort; it commands an extensive view of the Sound and its islands, its shores, and the towns on them.