Vyborg Old Cathedral is the oldest building in Vyborg, but today only some parts of its walls and the tower remain. The parish of Vyborg was established during the third crusade around the year 1293. There were several wooden churches the last one was destroyed by Novgorodians in 1411.
The construction of stone-made cathedral was began in 1430s and in was completed around 1445. The medieval appearance is unknown, because parts of the cathedral have been changed and demolished several times. The original nave was probably about 37m long and 20m wide. In addition to the main altar there were also few side altars. Unfortunately the interior is completely disappeared or destroyed in wars and reconstructions.
Some notable persons has been buried to the church like nobleman Erik Axelsson Tott and probably Mikael Agricola, the founder of written Finish language.
During the centuries the Vyborg cathedral was first Catholic, then Lutheran and during the Russian order also an Orthodox church. Peter the Great ordered to renovate it for Orthodox worships in 1720. In 1805 it was remodified as a magazine. In 1913 the cathedral was again restored and after the Independence of Finland it was moved once again Lutheran church. In the Winter War (1940) the aerial bomb hit the church and only walls survived.
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.