Photos

This photo is of the ancient wall surrounding the beautiful city of Visby on the island of Gotland. Visby, Gotland's capital, packs a lot of "living history" within its walls; in 1995 the city was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Set in the middle of the Baltic Sea, Gotland has been part of Sweden since 1645, although Visby itself is much older. Once a key member of the Hanseatic League of trading cities, Visby reached its apex in the 13th and 14th centuries, when its wealthy burghers built three and four-storey houses to hold the treasures acquired through a trading network that stretched from London and Bergen to Novgorod in Russia. The city was so influential that the Visby Sea Laws held sway as far away as Scotland. The sack of the city in 1361, by King Valdemar Attedag of Denmark, left the town weakened and far less prosperous, but it did not destroy Visby's key position in the cross-Baltic trade routes. The walls surrounding the city are medieval and are a great way to view the area.