On 9 December 2015 Visby marked its 20^th anniversary as a World Heritage city. The festivities included a book launch and a new World Heritage exhibition at Gotlands Museum. Björn Jansson, Mayor of Gotland, Cecilia Schelin Seidegård, County Governor and Sonia Landin gave speeches at an evening event in the Ruin of Saint Catherine’s Church, which included music, dance performance and a World Heritage photo show projected on the ruin façade.

The anniversary was marked with several events throughout the year. ‘We used the year to re-new commitment and deepen engagement in World Heritage. There is great potential to use World Heritage status as a place-making tool as the town of Visby develops and a new management plan process is initiated’, stated Elene Negussie, Site Manager at Region Gotland, the municipality which is member of the OWHC through the Mayor of Gotland.

The Hanseatic Town of Visby was inscribed on the World Heritage List as ‘an outstanding example of north European medieval walled trading town which preserves with remarkable completeness a townscape and assemblage of high-quality ancient buildings that illustrate graphically the form and function of this type of significant human settlement’.

Further info: http://www.gotland.se/83876/

Photo: Sara Appelgren, ©Region Gotland/Gotlands Museum