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The Church of Saints Nazarius and Celsus is located on the side of a hill called Bric San Nazario and is easily visible in the countryside thanks to its tall bell tower and the chromatic effect due to the alternating stripes of bricks and sandstone. It is an important example of the Romanesque architecture of Montferrat.
It was founded in around 1130 on the site of a previous settlement called Mairano, which was later abandoned in the 13th century. People moved to Montechiaro, which is about 2 km far, and the church went on a slow decline.
In 1847, the building was close to collapse, so it was heavily renovated: the whole church was dismantled except the façade, all the bricks and stones were numbered and catalogued and it was accurately rebuilt, following a process called anastylosis. Other minor restoration processes were carried out in the following centuries.
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.