The New International Encyclopædia/Wisby

WIS′BY or VISBY. The capital of the Swedish island and län of Gotland, on the western coast of the island, about 44 miles from the mainland of Sweden (Map: Sweden, H 8). The town is imposingly situated amid gardens on and at the foot of a rugged cliff. It has greatly declined, as is attested by the half-vacant area inclosed within the interesting mediæval walls with their thirty-eight ancient towers. The many houses dating back to the period from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century give the place a quaint appearance. Of the many churches, only one, the Cathedral of Saint Mary, at the foot of the cliff, now remains in service. It was erected by the Germans and was completed in 1225. The interesting ruined Church of Saint Nicholas, partly Romanesque and partly Gothic, has two beautiful rose windows, supposed to have contained the two carbuncles which, tradition says, now lie at the bottom of the sea with the bones of Valdemar. The charming Gothic Saint Catharine Church dates from about 1230. Near the southeast corner of the walls is a monolithic cross marking the sepulchre of the defenders of the city in 1361. The Gotland Museum, rich in antiquities, the high school with a museum, the chemical station, and the library are the principal public buildings. The little modern harbor, south of the old Hanseatic harbor, which has disappeared, has two basins to accommodate the present traffic. Population, in 1900, 8376.

The history of Wisby is that of Gotland (q.v.). The town was probably a place of human sacrifice and a trading place of some importance in pagan times. In the Middle Ages, when it was a member of the Hansa, it was a great distributing centre for the commerce between the Orient and the Baltic countries. A famous maritime code bore its name. Valdemar IV. of Denmark practically destroyed the town in 1361, and it never regained its supremacy.