Västra Hoby Church was built in 1886 since most of the previous church had been demolished. The old church was built in the Middle Ages, but of that church there is only the tower left. On a wall in the back of the church room there is a reredos from the 15th century. It was stored in the Museum of cultural history in Lund, but has now been moved back to Västra Hoby Church. The reredos is divided into 19 fields. The first nine fields show the childhood of Jesus. The tenth field is much larger than the others and show the crucifixion of Jesus. The last nine fields show the Story of the Passion.
The font was made in the Middle Ages. The altarpiece is a copy of a Carl Bloch-painting made in 1886 by Hjalmar Berggren. The present church organ was moved from Odarslöv Church in 2004 and was consecrated on November 14. It has 528 pipes and was made by Eskil Lundin in 1904, which is a quite high age for a church organ still in use. The parish thought it was a shame not to use the old organ, so they wanted to move the organ when Odarslöv Church was deconsecrated in 2002.
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.