Riga, Latvia
13th century
Riga, Latvia
ca. 1334
Riga, Latvia
1209
Riga, Latvia
1971
Riga, Latvia
1211
Riga, Latvia
13th century
Riga, Latvia
1225
Riga, Latvia
1931-1935
Riga, Latvia
1497-1515
Riga, Latvia
1876-1883
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.