Rikalanmäki, Salo, Finland

Rikalanmäki was one of the most remarkable Bronze and Iron Age towns in Finland. According legends, It was a very wealthy trading centre. The heyday of Rikalanmäki was in 11th and 12th centuries when Vikings and foreign merchants exchanged metals and weapons to fur from inner Finland. There are evidences of indirect trade connections even to the Arabic countries. According the legend Birger Jarl landed to the Rikala harbor to start the second crusade to Finland.

Archeologists have found several remarkable treasures from the ancient cemetery in Rikalanmäki including swords, personal equipments, money and remains of clothes. Most valuable artifacts are so-called Sword of Gicelin and silver jewels named as “Halikon käädyt”. Both findings are from the 12th century and situated to National Museum in Helsinki.

Rikalanmäki hill is one of the most significant archaeological sites in Finland as well as one of the most important cultural landscapes protected by the National Board of Antiquities in South-west Finland. A signposted archaeological trail sheds light on the rich past of the hill. Exhibitions and an open-air theatre in summer, as well as a summertime restaurant.

Visby Cathedral

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.

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