Still in Sweden, the rain behind us with a sunny morning we arrived in the largest town on Gotland: Visby, the City of Roses and Ruins. Visby is Sweden’s most popular summer resort for locals and many cruise ships stopping here as well brining additional crowds to this small place of only 23,000 inhabitants.
Originally we were supposed to anchor in the harbor and get ashore by tender boat, however we docked on the new pier and were able to use the gangway, giving us more freedom to come and go as we pleased. The stop here was only a few short hours; from 7am to 11.30am.
Visby was already an important trading port in 900 AD. The earlier history is uncertain, but the main attraction is its medieval history. It’s arguably the best preserved medieval city in Scandinavia. Amongst the most notable is the 3.4 km long city wall with its 44 towers protecting the old town and churches. All key attractions are within the old town, covering about one square kilometer.
From the pier, a walk through the Almedalen Park, the old harbor, takes you to the Kruttornet, the powder tower, and the old limestone city wall.
A bit further along the shore is the botanical garden with its renown collection of roses.
To get a panoramic view of Visby, we head up to the St. Mary’s Cathedral dating back to the 12th century and is the only medieval church here still in use.
From the cathedral take the stairs to the top of the rocks and enjoy the view over the old historic town.
A couple of streets further and we reach the city wall again. Stepping through the the Brunns-porten, we get a great view of the city wall and its towers from the outside. Some of the more significant powers are the Maiden’s Tower and the Kajsar tower, which was used as the town prison, now a prison museum.
Back in the old town we head down to the Storta Torget, the market square. Here is also the ruin of the 13th century St. Katherine church. You will find many other abandoned churches inside the city walls.
From here we are heading to the Donners Plats, where you will find the Burmeisterska Hus dating back to the mid 1600s named after its German merchant owner Hans Burmeister.
Generally, having been an important Hanseatic trade post, Visby has a lot of German history and influences remaining.
Half a day is enough to walk in the old town and enjoy the views of Visby. If you like to visit some of the museums, browse in the shops and spend some time in the botanical garden, plan at least a day in this beautiful port.
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