Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/123

Bk. V. Ch. I. GOTHLAND. 107 trade which had previously been carried on through Egypt or Con- stantinople was diverted to a northern line of communication, owing principally to the disturbed state of the East, which preceded and in fact gave rise to the Crusades. At this time a very considerable trade passed through Russia, and centred in Novogorod. From that place it passed down the Baltic to Gothland, which was chosen apparently for the security of its island position, and its capital, Wisby, became the great emporium of the West. After two centuries of prosperity, it was gradually superseded by the rise of the Hanseatic 550. Holy Anders Church, Wisby. (From Marryat's " One Year in Sweden.") towns on the mainland, and a final blow was struck by Valdemar of Denmark, who took the town by storm in 1361. Since then it has gradually become depopulated. The consequence has been that, no additional accommodation being required, the old churches have remained unaltered ; still they have not been pulled down nor their materials used for secular purposes. Even now Wisby, the capital, is said to retain eighteen churches belonging to the period of its prosperity ; the whole island containing twice or three times that number. The cathedral was originally founded about the year 1100, burnt down in 1175, and rebiiilt as we now find it about 1225. Like all the