The Visby city wall

Visby is surrounded by a limestone wall that is raised and strengthened in the late 13th century. It is almost 3.5 kilometres long.

The wall and the town’s medieval buildings make Visby a World Heritage Site and one of the best-preserved medieval towns in the Nordic countries.

In the 12th and 13th centuries Visby became one of the most important trading towns on the Baltic. German merchants settled in the town alongside Gotlanders, and they were granted privileges that made Visby a key to the trade later brought together in the Hanseatic League, with offices as far away as Novgorod. The town grew rich, but relations with the farmers of the countryside became increasingly strained, as the town wanted a monopoly on trade. In 1288 a civil war broke out between Visby and the countryside, and the Swedish king Magnus Ladulås intervened. It was during this period that the city wall was developed into a strong defence, directed as much against fellow islanders as against foreign enemies.

The wall was built of limestone from the island’s bedrock. It began as a lower wall on the landward side, which was raised and given towers in several stages, while the seaward side was extended somewhat later. There are both tall towers standing on the ground and smaller so-called saddle towers resting on the wall itself, as well as gates such as Norderport, Österport and Söderport. The oldest tower, the Powder Tower by the harbour, is older than the rest of the wall. Inside the town the merchants built stone houses with stepped gables and large warehouses, and there were many churches and monasteries. Most of them now stand in ruins, while St Mary’s Church became the cathedral.

In the summer of 1361 the Danish king Valdemar Atterdag landed on Gotland. The peasant army that met him was defeated outside the town wall, and the dead were buried in mass graves that were excavated by archaeologists in the 20th century, with armour and weapons preserved. Visby opened its gates and, according to tradition, paid a levy to escape being plundered. After that the town slowly declined in importance, and much of its medieval fabric survived because no one could afford to build anew. In the 19th century the ruins were romanticised and the town became a tourist destination. In 1995 the Hanseatic Town of Visby became a World Heritage Site, and every summer Medieval Week draws visitors within the walls.