Dated buildings in Visby

Let us by a walk in the city find the buildings with dated pieces of wood. At a beginning we will walk along the three streets Strandgatan, Mellangatan and S:t Hansgatan which stretch in north-south direction parallel to the coast-line. With Strandgatan to the west the other two streets represent increasing altitude to the east.

1 Norderport  
2 S:t Nicolaus  
3 S:t Nicolaus 6  
4 S:t Clemens  
5 S:a Maria  
6 S:t Olof  
7 Specksrum  
8 Kruttornet  
9 Ankaret 1  
10 Priorn 7  
11 Drotten  
12 S:t Lars  
13 Novisen 5  
14 Valvet 3  
15 S:a Katarina  
16 S:a Katarina 6  
17 G:a Apoteket  
18 Pressen  
19 Hornet 1  
20 Strandporten  
21 Museet  
22 Burmeister  
23 Hypoteket 2  
24 Kilen 2  
25 Hotellet  
26 Residenset 2  
27 Gråbrodern 5

We start at Kruttornet, walk south along Strandgatan, after about 100 m we see to the left G:a Apoteket, a seven storeyed stone house with crenalated gable facing the street, and we walk on southwards. In the farther part of the next block to the left two houses have basement and parts of the walls from the Middle Ages. Bore-cores from wood in these houses gave no dates. That block is Pressen, and we will return there from the parallel street Mellangatan.

Where Strandgatan to the right has a small plantation and a portal embrace in the town wall we see to the left the highest house in the city inside the town walls, Hornet 1 or Liljehornska Huset. The house has a stepped gable facing the street.

In the next block, Museet, is the historical museum Gotlands Fornsal. In the house south of the entrance to the back yard joists of the floor in the first floor are dated. Diagonally across the street in the block Burmeister 4 is a small half-timbered house, beams of which are dated.

We pass two blocks to the left where the houses lack medieval wood because of fire, turn to the left up at Hästgatan, walk about 30 m, and across the street to the south we see Hypoteket 2. Inside the 20th century facade are two medieval houses, later built together and with remains of a medieval lane in between. The joists in the southern medieval house are dated.

We return down the street towards Donners Plats and walk south along Strandgatan. On our left hand side is the block Hotellet with dated joists of the floor in two medieval houses. To the right is Residenset 2A.

In the building with recesses in its gables medieval joists of the floor are dated. We return to Donners Plats, walk southwards diagonally to the left in the narrow street Kilgränd.

The house with recesses in its gable facing the street is Kilen 2.
It has dated timber both in the lower storey and in the trusses. Unless we do not take a short cut we proceed along Kilgränd up to Mellangatan where we face single-storeyed wooden houses. Our eyes are not indifferent to the row of house facades, but we walk about 300 m north along Mellangatan until we have the block Pressen to the left with dated timber. We proceed along Mellangatan to its northern mouth where we have Ankaret 1 on our left hand. We take our way along the nearest crossing lane to the east until we reach S:t Hansgatan where we walk south. To the left we see the church ruin S:t Drotten, which high up in the tower contains datable timber.

Across the plantation at the next street, at S:t Drottensgatan 10 is Priorn 7, where timber has been dated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

South of S:t Drotten is the next church ruin S:t Lars. Just east of that ruin is Novisen 5. That building is extensively investigated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At S:t Hansgatan, near S:t Lars a house, Valvet 1, is partly built over the street. Dated joists in the basement on the western side probably also date the vault over the street. Further down S:t Hansgatan about 100 m is the next vault across the street. The vault rests to the east on the house Catarina 6, which contains the oldest dated timber among the buildings which we have passed. We have already passed many buildings with medieval bodies which have no accessible medieval wood. Some of the medieval stone houses have been torn down in their upper part and replaced by timber rebuilding. One example of that is Gråbrodern 5, 'Rosas Café', three blocks further down along S:t Hansgatan. In the same block, at the corner is Gråbrodern 4.

Clematishuset at Strandgatan.

Behind the block north of the northern end of S:t Hansgatan is the church ruin S:t Clemens.

About 100 m south-west of Norderport is the church ruin S:t Nicolaus and just south of the ruin is the house of the free masons, S:t Nicolaus 7.

Outside the town wall and about 300 m to the north is the church ruin S:t Göran.