page_title: Gotland
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Gotland / Culture
caption_attribution_description: English: A replica of the Havor Ring stored by Historiska Museet in Stockholm, Sweden. Svenska: Historiska museets kopia av Havorringen.
context_page_description: Gotland is Sweden's largest island. It also is a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the north, as well as the Karlsö Islands to the west. The population is 58,595, of which about 23,600 live in Visby, the main town. The island of Gotland and the other areas of the province of Gotland make up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area.
  The island's main sources of income are agriculture, food processing, tourism, information technology services, design, and some heavy industry such as concrete production from locally mined limestone. From a military viewpoint, it occupies a strategic location in the Baltic sea. As of 2018 the Gotland Regiment has been re-raised and it is the first time since World War II that a new regiment has been established in Sweden.
context_section_description: A number of stones with grooves exist on Gotland. Archaeologists interpret these grooves as traces of an unknown industrial process in the High Middle Ages. There are approximately 3,700 grinding grooves, of which about 750 occur in the solid limestone outcrop and the rest in other rock formations. The latter often consist of hard rocks such as granite or gneiss, but also soft rocks such as sandstone occur. Grinding grooves are also found in Skåne, in southern Sweden and in Finland. Astronomer Göran Henriksson dates a number of these grinding grooves to the Stone Age, from c. 3300 BCE to c. 2000 BCE, based on astronomical alignments, although his methodology has been heavily criticized.
  The Medieval town of Visby has been entered as a site of the UNESCO World heritage programme. An impressive feature of Visby is the fortress wall that surrounds the old city, dating from the 13th century.
  The inhabitants of Gotland traditionally spoke their own language, known as Old Gutnish. Today however, that language has become a Swedish dialect known as Gutnish. In the 13th century, a work containing the laws of the island, called "the Gotlandic law" (Gutalagen), was published in Old Gutnish, as well as the Gutasaga.
  Gotland is noted for its 94 Medieval churches, most of which are restored and in active use. These churches exhibit two major styles of architecture: Romanesque and Gothic. The older churches were constructed in the Romanesque style from 1150–1250. The newer churches were constructed in the Gothic architectural style that prevailed from about 1250–1400. The oldest painting inside one of the churches on Gotland stretches as far back in time as the 12th century.
  Traditional games of skill like Kubb, Pärk, and Varpa are played on Gotland. They are part of what has become called "Gutniska Lekar", and are performed preferably on the Midsummer's Eve celebration on the island, but also throughout the summer months. The games have widespread renown; some of them are played by people as far away as in the United States.
  The knotwork design subsequently named the "Valknut" has the most attested historic instances on picture stones in Gotland, which include being on both the Stora Hammars I and the Tängelgårda stones.
  Gotland also has a rich heritage of folklore, including myths about the bysen, Di sma undar jordi, Hoburgsgubben and the Martebo lights.
  Gotland gives its name to the traditional farmhouse ale Gotlandsdricka, a turbid beer with much in common with Finnish sahti, and related beers from the Baltic states.
caption: Replica of gold torc from Havor Hoard
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