Every cobblestone in Visby has seen something.
Today, tourists sip wine near the towers, snap selfies by the wall, and stroll past crumbling churches at golden hour. But not long ago, this was a city of public executions, floggings, and gallows on the skyline.
In the Middle Ages, Visby wasn’t just a hub of trade and religion — it was also where pirates were hanged, traitors beheaded, and justice was loud, bloody, and public.
There was a gallows hill outside the city, meant to be seen from the sea — a message to outsiders. Some say you can still feel the air shift there, like the past hasn’t fully left.
Other punishments were carried out within the city walls:
A stone near one church was rumored to be a beheading block Bodies left on display as warnings Blood stains, it’s said, that never fully washed away
Locals called it blodskatt — the “blood tax” — what a community pays when power needs to make a point.
When I visit Visby in August, I know I’ll see flowers in windows and kids in medieval costumes. But I’ll also be thinking about who walked those streets before, and what they lost.
Swedish Word of the Day: Blodskatt (noun) – blood tax 🩸
(Stenarna minns. Även när vi inte vill det.
– The stones remember. Even when we don’t want them to.)
Swedish Wanderlust 