The Parish Church of St. Stjepan was first mentioned in the 1100 AD, in the 'Glorious Dragoslav' grant. According to the Glagolitic inscription, it was expanded in 1510. It is dominated by elements of the Baroque and late Gothic works. Initially a single nave, the parish church in the 18th century, it became a triple nave by the merging a series of side chapels, which over the centuries were built into a one nave church. Above its entrance, there is a canopy of the unique name 'cergan', and from there it overlooks much of Kvarner. There was a bell tower next to the church, but in 1720 it was distroyed by lightning and a new one was built. The new one was not built in the same place, but in a nearby old cemetery, from where it still dominates the whole area today. This bell tower suffered devastation, by the Germans during the occupation of 1944, but was rebuilt after the war.
References: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.