Ribe

Ribe is the oldest town in Scandinavia, dating back to the 9th century. However, recent excavations have unearthed a number of silver coins, indicating that a market town once existed on the site as far back as AD 700. Incessant wars with Sweden strangled regional commerce, resulting in Ribe's decline as an important medieval trading centre. Its 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 history museum. The town's dominant landmark, Ribe Cathedral, stands as a fine testament to Ribe's prominent past. For a lofty view of the countryside, climb 27m up the cathedral's 14th-century tower. Ribes Vikinger is a huge museum with displays of Ribe's Viking and medieval history. One exhibition hall has a reproduction of an AD 800 marketplace, complete with a cargo-laden Viking ship; and there's also a multimedia project depicting a Viking ship tour of the old trade routes. Just south of the town centre is the Vikingecenter, which has attempted to recreate Viking-era Ribe through various reconstructions, including a 34-metre Fyrkat-style longhouse. Ribe is in southern Jutland.