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The Boyar (Byzantine) House, located near Melnik on the Razklona upland, is a nationally significant architectural monument from the early 13th century. Once the residence of despot Alexius Slav, the house was repeatedly damaged, rebuilt, and fully restored in the 18th century with new features like an attic and a clock tower. Known for its luxurious design — including marble floors, mosaics, and frescoes — it held a strategic position within the Slavova Fortress. Today, its preserved walls and tower-like structure showcase distinctive medieval brickwork, a hallmark of Bulgarian pictorial architecture. Nearby, excavations revealed a farm building, water storehouse, and a 13th-century church.
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.