Almedalen

Why go

The setting helps explain why Visby grew here: the trading town once met its harbour at this edge of the walls. Today the library and university stand alongside the park, and a playground adds a reason to stop with children. It offers a change of pace from the enclosed historic streets.

What to look for

• The park occupies ground that once formed Visby’s medieval harbour.
• Almedalen is associated with Sweden’s annual political gathering, Almedalen Week.

The full story

The name Almedalen belongs to a landscape that has changed its purpose more than once. In medieval times this was Visby’s harbour, immediately outside the walls. Land rising after the last ice age gradually made the water too shallow, and harbour activity moved to deeper water farther away. That helps explain why a park now occupies what was once a working part of the waterfront. In the nineteenth century the area was known as Gamle Hamn, or Old Port. Elm planting in the 1870s gave it the name Almedalen, while its conversion into a city park began in the 1950s. Its later association with political speeches added another public role. Reading the park through those successive uses makes the open ground beside the walls more than a pleasant gap in the town.

Useful to know

• Add the park before or after exploring Visby’s old town; its waterfront setting extends the walk beyond the streets.

Your next visit

Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.