Ribe is one of the oldest cities in Denmark and has one of the best-preserved medieval buildings in the country. Its decoration is the Romanesque cathedral, and tourists also come here for the interesting Viking Museum.
The beginnings of the city date back to the 8th century. There was a Viking settlement here inhabited by craftsmen and merchants. One of the biggest attractions of the city - the Viking Museum in Ribe - refers to these times. There is also the Viking Center, an open-air museum in which the appearance of the former settlement has been reconstructed.
In the 9th century, a bishopric was established in Ribe. It was then that the construction of the Cathedral of Ribe began, which received its present shape in the 12th century. Today it is one of the most important Romanesque monuments in Denmark. There is also a medieval church of St. Catherine's Church and Ribe Monastery from the same period.
Ribe's heyday was in the 12th - 15th centuries. The city was then the main commercial center of southern Denmark and an important port in contacts with Germany and England. To this day, a lot of half-timbered houses have survived in the center, the history of which dates back to the 15th and early 16th centuries. The oldest of them is Hans Tausen Hus, who used to be the seat of bishops in the past.
In addition to the Viking Museum in Ribe, you can also visit the modern Wadden Sea Center with nature exhibitions, the Jacob A. Riis Museum and the Art Museum. On the outskirts of the city are the ruins of Riberhus Castle. The attraction of the area is the small village of Mandø with the Mandø Museum showing the life of the local people and the historic Mandø windmill. It can be reached by the Mandø bus during the tourist season.
