Galgberget Gallows

Three medieval stone gallows still standing on the hill north of town

A short walk north of the city walls brings you to Galgberget — the Gallows Hill. Three weathered limestone spires stand on the bare rise, the only remaining medieval execution site in Europe with its original triple-gallows structure intact. In its working centuries, criminals were strung from horizontal wooden beams between the stones; the bones often stayed where they fell, and 19th-century antiquarians dug up dozens of skeletons in the surrounding ground.

The hill itself is now an open park with sweeping views back to the city walls and across to the Baltic. Bring a flask of coffee for a strangely contemplative spot — half memento mori, half picnic ground.

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A story
These three limestone pillars, connected by wooden beams when in use, were Visby's place of execution from the 13th century until 1862. Local tradition holds that the last person hanged here — a horse thief named Petter Vilhelm Mattson — was buried where he fell, and you can still see the trio of stones from a long way off.

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