Visby Part Ett

Sunday 5/10/15

We arrived in Visby on the island of Götland late Saturday night. It is referred to as the city of ruins and roses. How quaint. Sunday we spent the day settling in to our last home in Sweden. About half of us were in a big cottage just a few hundred feet from the beach.  Whenever we told Swedes from the mainland that we were going to Visby in May they oohed and expressed their jealousy. Now I know why. The town and island is absolutely gorgeous but because of the nature but also the cultural heritage.

Britta, Pat, Laura, Erin, Becca, Hannah, Me, Anna, Amelia

on the coach in our cottage

Walk back from groceries along the city wall ruins.

The city wall

Beach by our cottage

Pat wrote me a message in my lunch! (Pete is my nickname)

We made the cottage homey by buying candles, collecting rocks/fossils, flowers and an egg shell.

Monday 5/11/15

In the morning we walked to town to pick up bicycles. They would be our means of transportation for the next two weeks. Then we went to the university in the city for lectures of the history of Visby and about their international environment focused masters programs. People have inhabited the island since the stone ages. It was a popular city for Vikings from around 800-1100 AD. Afterwards the city was part of the German Hanseatic League which led to prosperity through trade. Visby became extremely wealthy and there is still proof of this from the rich stone buildings that have survived time. The wall around the city was built around the 12th century to protect the wealth of the city. One evidence of the wealth was the plethora of churches built not just in Visby but all over the island. Building a church was a way of showing your wealth. Those living in the country on the island were mostly farmers or fishers but were also fairly rich.

However, fortune for the people of Visby ran out around the 15th century. The city was infested with pirates at one point. This aggravated the German town of Lübeck where the Hanseatic League was situated because the pirates cut into the profit for the League. Therefore the Germans attacked the island burning and massacring. Most churches were burned except St. Maria Church which was a german church. At this point the island was under Danish rule. 1645 the island became once again Swedish. There was also a weird stink in 1808 where Russia conquered the island but only owned it for a couple months. It appears that it was just a party time and not a tense occupation.

Medieval history is one of my least favorite time periods but there is something special about being in a well preserved medieval city and learning about its history while walking on the same streets and going underneath the same archways that existed during that time.

At night we finished the day with a traditional Swedish sauna overlooking the Baltic Sea.

Found a cat on our bike ride.

Our little cottage.

The one frustrating aspect of our lodging was the terrible wifi. Above Laura is standing the rain to get reception because we could only get a good signal on the sidewalk.

Tuesday 5/12/15

Get ready for some history! Don't worry, there are lots of pictures. Tuesday morning we went on a walking tour of Visby. Much of the history of the city can be told through an examination of its buildings and architecture.

This is Donna's House from the 18th century. She turned her deceased husband's trading company into one of the largest in Scandinavia. What is a city square now was her garden. It is possibly she helped supply America during the revolutionary war because she was able to take the northern routes past the British blockades. Businessmen use to call her Mr. Mrs. because they couldn't get their minds around the idea of a woman in business. 

Ca 1625 American log cabin style. It is red because of the red okra which is natural on the island.

16th century german styled house moved the the south corner of the island. It represents the time period when Visby was in the German empire. 

In the 12th century this was the main square. The archway was the main harbor, now the harbor has been filled in so the water is a mile or two from this archway. In this square all goods entered and duties were paid. The square is now referred to as Blood Bath Square because in 1325 leaders of the city were beheaded for supercilious reasons that are now rescinded. 

Fountain in Blood bath square.

This is the oldest and biggest warehouse from the 12th century. Now it is apartments. 

Our tour guide in front of where the private army was kept to protect the wealth. 

Another old warehouse which is symmetrical because it was shared by two families. An important commodity from the island was tar. It was used to coat ships and it was very expensive, except only one application was needed. 

This is Gunpowder tower. It was given this name in the 18th century when the Swedish army had a base here. It is the oldest stone tower in Scandinavia ca 1100. Perhaps it was originally a look out tower. 

Amelia, Roland and Jorgen smelling the tar on an old building. It smelled like campfire. 

The most photographed alley in Visby. In the summer it is overflowing with roses. 

This shortened door shows that the old street level was originally much lower. 

This is an entrance to a botanical garden established by The Bathing Friends of Visby. They were a group of men who got together not only to swim but to do good. They believed bathing in the Baltic was good for your health. 

Our tour guide next to a statue of Carl Linnaeus to commemorate his visit when he said Visby is the Rome of the Baltic.

The monkey puzzle tree from Chile. The Bathing friends collected plants from all over the world for their botanical garden to richen the city. The phrase 'jet black" which means something is really black, originates from this plant. When the tree is fossilized underground for millions of years it creates a semi precious stone called jet. 

This park for midsummer eve celebrations and for medieval week is chaos. Our tour guide said he met a guy who paid more in extra baggage fees to bring his 42 kilo full armor suit to Visby than he paid for airfare. 

The city wall was built in 50 years. It is about 3km long. They don't know who built it. You can still see where the town of Lübeck blasted through the wall. 

Saddle towers were added when the distance between towers was decided to be too far. Unfortunately they have buckled the wall in several places due to the extra weight.

The archways in the wall were designed to keep the wall strong but use less material. 

Upper left window you can see an old canon ball stuck from Lübeck invasion. 

There are three moats around the wall because the builders just dug up the stone there instead of carrying it in. 

This is an 8 sided byzantine church inspired by trade with Constantinople. 

Santa Maria established 1225. It is now Lutheran but kept its Catholic name. The top floor is an old warehouse where the city kept their wealth. 6 armed knights were locked inside for security each night. 

This statue of Jesus is original to the founding of the church. During Easter services the statue would be raised from the ground to the ceiling through a pulley system in the warehouse above giving the illusion he was rising. It was quite theatrical for the time. 

Twin Sister churches. The father died and gave half his money to each daughter. One built a church on the left and the other built a bigger one on the right. 

Santa Catarina. It was burned in 1500s and then was used as a public toilet. In the 1700s a man asked the city if he could clean up the church. He took all the 'soil' that had built up and used it to make gunpowder which he sold back to the city and made himself a  multimillionaire. 

Anker Strom's house. He was known to talk out against the king so he was tried for treason on the island but was found to guilt because the islanders agreed with him. Then he went and actually killed the king in Stockholm. Our tour guide's assistant is actually related to him!