Holmen is the former naval base northeast of Christianshavn, decommissioned in the 1990s and gradually transformed into a creative quarter. The old brick buildings now house the Royal Danish Academy of Architecture, the National Film School, the Royal Danish Academy of Music, and various design studios and cultural institutions. The scale of the buildings — vast, industrial, and nearly empty of civilians until recently — gives the area an unusual feeling.
The Copenhagen Opera House is at the southern tip of Holmen, directly across the harbour from Nyhavn. A pleasant walk leads from Christianshavn across the Knippelsbro bridge and along the naval base to the Opera House. The area is quieter than the rest of central Copenhagen and has a slightly unfinished, frontier quality that is increasingly rare in the city.