Visborg Castle Ruin

Visborg was a medieval fortress at the southern tip of Visby, built in the 15th century and destroyed in 1679. What remains is substantial: long stretches of the outer walls, the bases of several towers, and earthworks that give a clear sense of the original layout. The ruins sit at the harbour's edge outside the main city wall, and the walk from Söderport gate through the ruins and along the seawall is one of the better routes in Visby.

The site is freely accessible and mostly unexcavated. In summer the grass around the walls is thick and the setting is quietly dramatic — the sea to one side, the medieval wall to the other.

things to do sight
A story
Eric of Pomerania built Visborg as his stronghold after he was deposed as king of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway in the 1430s. He spent two decades raiding Baltic shipping from this fortress before finally selling it to the city of Lübeck. The castle changed hands repeatedly until Swedish forces razed most of it in 1679 to prevent it falling to Denmark — leaving the stubs of towers and stretches of curtain wall that stand today at the southern edge of Visby.