Ribe

Ribe is the oldest town in Scandinavia; recent excavations have unearthed a number of silver coins, indicating that a market town once existed here as far back as AD 700. Incessant wars with Sweden strangled regional commerce, resulting in Ribe’s decline as an important medieval trading centre.

The town’s economic decline has, nevertheless, spared it from modernisation. With its crooked, cobbled streets and half-timbered 16th-century houses, visiting Ribe is like stepping into a living museum. Its dominant landmark, Ribe Cathedral, stands as a fine testament to Ribe’s prominent past.