Powder Tower

Visby, Sweden

The so-called Powder Tower (Kruttornet) is the oldest monument in Visby. It was built in the 12th century to protect the harbour. There was initially no door in the tower, but only a small entrance in 10 meters high. Defenders used ladders to climb up to the entrance. Today 25 meter high tower is open to the public in summer season.

References:

Comments

Your name



Address

Fiskarplan 1, Visby, Sweden
See all sites in Visby

Details

Founded: 12th century
Category: Castles and fortifications in Sweden
Historical period: Consolidation (Sweden)

Rating

4.7/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

steve (2 years ago)
Wonderful place to visit. So much architecture, a few ruins, very photographic town.
Robert Wagstaff (2 years ago)
Nice place to visit but to see it all, hire a taxi or bike so you can stop where you want not a tour bus like we did
Giovanni Andres Moya Avendaño (2 years ago)
A beautiful place with a rich historical and cultural heritage.
Juyin Inamdar (2 years ago)
It’s amazing how the town wall is still preserved and you can feel the town within preserved in the medieval era too. It’s a nice stroll around the town wall and it is really lovely to see all the houses well preserved along the way. Surely there are places where you can see some houses have their backyards attached to this wall. But is impressive to see how well it is still standing.
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Château de Foix

The Château de Foix dominates the town of Foix. An important tourist site, it is known as a centre of the Cathars. Built on an older 7th-century fortification, the castle is known from 987. In 1002, it was mentioned in the will of Roger I, Count of Carcassonne, who bequeathed the fortress to his youngest child, Bernard. In effect, the family ruling over the region were installed here which allowed them to control access to the upper Ariège valley and to keep surveillance from this strategic point over the lower land, protected behind impregnable walls.

In 1034, the castle became capital of the County of Foix and played a decisive role in medieval military history. During the two following centuries, the castle was home to Counts with shining personalities who became the soul of the Occitan resistance during the crusade against the Albigensians.