Situated on a plateau hill it is protected by high cliffs and wall sections, almost 2 km (1.2 mi) long in total.

[5] There are several caves in the cliffs along the northwest side, the deepest is the Burglädu (Gutnish for "Castle barn") at 16 m (52 ft).

Nevertheless, the area has given life to a wide variety of fire-dependent fungus, plants and insects, some of which are endangered species.

Scholars estimate that nearly 1000 soldiers would have been needed to defend it [7] and it could have been providing refuge to the entire population of Gotland that is calculated to be between 6,000 and 10,000 in the early medieval period.

The steep cliffs provide a natural protection for the hillfort in the west, north and east part of the plateau, with reinforcements and constructed walls in some places.

Only four small metal objects have been retrieved during a minor excavation in connection to a restoration of the stone work at Ardre luke in 1983.

[3][2][9] There are several openings in the walls, in Gutnish called luke (Swedish: lucka), each with its own name:[2] It has been suggested that Torsburgen was part of a defense system for lighting fire beacons on the many hill forts and plateau hills on the island, to warn the population about approaching enemy ships.

It was most likely created during the Late Roman Iron Age (200 - 400 AD), the walls surrounding the area of the hillfort were made of dry stone, rubble from boulders, limestone, and a raised beach.

These residents were eventually forced to leave Gotland altogether; they subsequently settled in Fårö and Hiiumaa before finally moving through Russia to Greece, where they became the descendants of the Goths.

The flora includes a number of plants that are rare in Sweden, such as hard shield-ferns, scorpion senna, Orobanche alba and the Pulsatilla vulgaris gotlandica; all of which survived the fire in 1992.

A number of endangered species of plants and insects on the IUCN Red List have been found within the area.