The Vauban citadel, overlooking Seyne, bears witness to the history of the valley since the 17th century. Already equipped with medieval fortifications, the city which then bordered Savoy was deemed insufficiently protected by Vauban, the great engineer and military architect of Louis XIV.
In 1691, Vauban erected a citadel which followed the crest of a rocky spur and thus dominated the ramparts and bastions which had been reinforced. Narrow and elongated in shape, the citadel is in fact adapted to the particular relief of the land and includes a 12th century tower inherited from military works from the Middle Ages. Protecting the small city located at its feet, the citadel, remodeled in the 18th century, lost its strategic interest in the following century and, threatening ruin, ended up being bought by the city during the 20th century.
You will discover genuine cannons, the impressive period cistern with its stalactites, the old bread oven, films, and exhibitions on the history of Seyne and its fortress.
Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.