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Founded: 500 - 1200Category: Cemeteries, mausoleums and burial places in Finland
Historical period: Iron Age (Finland)
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Luistari site is the largest Iron Age burial ground in Finland. There has been a place of residence already in the Bronze Age, but the remains have been destroyed later when the burial ground was built.
Archaeologists have investigated over 1300 adults and children graves from the Luistari site. Based on excavations burials were made between years 500 AD-1200 AD. Archaeologists have found several remains of clothing, jewellery and weapons from the ground. For example the ancient garb of Eura was made based entirely on finds made at a Viking Age gravesite at Luistari.
The Luistari site is now a restored archaeological park. There are no remarkable remains left of the burial ground, but information signs describe the site and excavations.
Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.