Visby City Wall

Visby City Wall
Native name
Swedish: Visby ringmur, Visby stadsmur
Visby City Wall in winter
LocationVisby, Sweden
Coordinates57°38′05″N 18°17′57″E / 57.63472°N 18.29917°E / 57.63472; 18.29917
AreaLength 3.44 km (2.14 mi)[1]
Founded12th century
Built forDefense for the Town of Visby
Restored1884–86 and some subsequent
Restored byEmil Victor Langlet (in 1884)
Architectural style(s)Medieval city wall
Visitors800,000 (in 2013[2])
Governing bodySwedish National Heritage Board[3]
OwnerGotland Municipality
Official nameHanseatic Town of Visby[4]
TypeCultural
Criteriaiv, v
Designated1995 (19th session)
Reference no.731
Europe and North America
whc.unesco.org

Visby City Wall (Swedish: Visby ringmur, "Visby Ring Wall", sometimes Visby stadsmur, "Visby City Wall") is a medieval defensive wall surrounding the Swedish town of Visby on the island of Gotland. As the strongest, most extensive, and best preserved medieval city wall in Scandinavia, the wall forms an important and integral part of Visby World Heritage Site.

Built in two stages during the 13th and 14th century, approximately 3.44 km (2.14 mi) of its original 3.6 km (2.2 mi) still stands. Of the 29 large and 22 smaller towers, 27 large and 9 small remain. A number of houses that predate the wall were incorporated within it during one of the two phases of construction. During the 18th century, fortifications were added to the wall in several places and some of the towers rebuilt to accommodate cannons.

  1. ^ Jonsson, Marita; Lindquist, Sven-Olof; Hejdström, Raymond (1999). Vägen till kulturen på Gotland [The road to Gotland] (in Swedish) (6th ed.). Visby: Gotlands fornsal. p. 110. ISBN 91-88036-32-4.
  2. ^ James, Maria. "Hansestaden Visby" [Hanseatic town of Visby]. www.gotland.se (in Swedish). Gotland Municipality. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  3. ^ Simonsson, Helen (17 April 2013). "Visby ringmur – historia och bakgrund om materialen" [The city wall of Visby – history and background of materials] (in Swedish). Swedish National Heritage Board. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  4. ^ "Hanseatic Town of Visby". UNESCO. Retrieved 24 October 2014.

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