Visby is the main city on the Swedish island of Gotland. The town’s early history is uncertain, but it is believed to have been a trading post since the 9th century. Visby developed rapidly in the 12th century to be an important port for the Hanseatic League, and many Germans lived in the city, which was protected by solid city walls against both landside and the sea in the 13th century. The city obtained privileges and free trade, and the merchants traded all over the Baltic Sea.

The Danish king conquered Visby in 1361, and in 1408 Visby and Gotland became part of the Kalmar Union, and the Danish era started a few decades later. With the Peace of Brömsebro in 1645, Visby was Swedish, but by this time the previously profitable trade had declined significantly. Wars and epidemics slowed new growth, and in 1720 there were approximately 1,200 people living in Visby. The 19th century started with a Russian conquest, but the century also initiated the city’s development of tourism and the preservation of the old town center and its impressive walls.

Today, Visby is a unique city with many attractions in the cozy streets. You can start a stroll on the square Stora Torget, which was laid out in the 14th century. On the square you can see Sankta Katarina Kyrkoruin, which is a beautiful ruin of a Franciscan church that was built from 1233. The church was destroyed after Lübeck’s attack on Visby in 1525. Close to the north of Stora Torget is another of the city’s many church ruins, Drotten’s Kyrkoruin, which is a former church from around 1240.

In the same part of Visby, you can visit Visby Domkyrka, which was originally built as a church for arriving German merchants with consecration in 1225. The building became a cathedral when the seat of Visby was established in 1572. The church’s appearance today comes partly from remodeling in the 18th century, when fires ravaged the towers, which had to be rebuilt in a new style.

The icon of Visby is the walls, that almost stand all the way around the city center. It was constructed with a height up to 11 meters high in the Middle Ages. The wall is the best-preserved city wall in Scandinavia, and it is part of Visby’s inclusion on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The ring wall was built in two stages in the 13th and 15th centuries with a total length of 3.6 kilometers.

There were 29 large towers and 22 so-called saddle towers along the walls. Most of the wall and its towers have been preserved to this day, and you can take a nice walk along the structure to enjoy the large engineering works and its city gates and impressive towers. One detail is that the wall is larger on the land side than towards the sea, which is because, it was erected to defend Visby against Gotland’s farmers as well.

You can also visit the Gotland Museum, which is an archaeological and cultural history museum. The museum has many interesting exhibitions, and this is where you can see the Spillingsskatten. It is a treasure considered the largest archaeological find from the Viking Age, and it was found in 1699 in northern Gotland. The museum also has a department for art, the Konstmuseet, which primarily exhibits contemporary art, handicrafts and design related to Gotland from the 19th century to the present day.

You can also take a walk a short distance from the northern part of the city walls. Here you will arrive at Galgberget, an area where you can see the preserved columns where the city’s gallows used to hang. It is believed that the gallows were in use until 1845, and at that time there was an unobstructed view of the site from the city and the sea, so that everyone could see the executed persons. Today, fortunately, it is quieter on Galgberget, where you can look over the sea and the countryside.