The East Gate (Österport in Swedish) provided one of the three main entrances into Visby. The other two are The South Gate (https://reveal.world/story/the-south-gate) and The North Gate (https://reveal.world/story/the-north-gate). All rural produce was liable to market tolls, paid at the toll booths in the gatehouses. There is a fireplace and a garderobe in the room above the archway, indicating that the tower was permanently guarded.

The tower once was much higher and more impressive than today. Partially, because the ground level inside and alongside the gateway has risen by more than one meter since the medieval period. Besides, the tower originally had five floors and was crowned with a tall spire. Sadly, the top stores and the spire were destroyed by fire in 1610.

The gateway was closed with great wooden doors, which were dismantled in 1893 and are now kept in the courtyard of the county museum, Gotland Forsal. Inside the gateway arch, inserted wooden sockets for a bar of the earliest gate can be seen. In 1710 the tower was equipped with cannons, whereby the medieval arrow slits were opened up to make room for the muzzles of the cannons.

Still to this day, the East Gate is one of the main entrances to intramural Visby, connecting the present day shopping center Östercentrum outside the walls with the medieval merchant city within the walls.

Next stop - The Mill Tower https://reveal.world/story/the-mill-tower