Risby Viking Road

Viking Age terrain was very difficult for travellers due to forests, marshland and streams, so people preferred transport by water, but cross-country transport also took place. The roads followed the landscape – skirting wetlands and around the hilltops. Many of today’s minor roads cover the same route, so Viking roads are rarely preserved.  5 km from Hammer Church, along road 265 to Præstø, just before the highway you can see a small stretch of ancient road – Risbyvejen. It dates way back way to Neolithic times, but the paved road layout visible today was laid in the Viking Age at an earlier ford across the Rise River – now Risby Å.  In 1973-76 a deck of planks was found at the eastern end of the road. Beneath these planks were a wagon wheel and a sled.