Every design for Ribe

Long before Denmark had towns, traders were already doing business on the banks of Ribe Å, and Ribe now claims the title of the country's oldest town. Its name is linked to the Latin ripa, a riverbank, and the river still runs through the streets towards the Wadden Sea.

Museet Ribes Vikinger tells how the market place began, trading mostly with Frisia and England; most of the early coins known as sceattas found in Denmark come from in or near Ribe. The town also holds the cathedral, built on top of an earlier church, as well as Kannikegården, Ribe Kunstmuseum and Det Gamle Rådhus. Ribe has been a bishop's seat for over a thousand years, and storm floods have left their marks on the cathedral walls and on a flood pillar in town. People who live here are called ripensere, and they share their cobbled lanes with visitors from all over the world.

If Ribe is yours, you know the sound of the cathedral bells over the marsh. Take that with you.