The Château de Courcy was mentioned in 1091, when it was owned by Richard de Courcy and besieged by Robert Curthose. At the start of the 17th century, the castle was demolished by order of Richelieu and, losing all military function, slowly became an agricultural enterprise. In 1975, the remaining parts of the former castle including the gate on the road from Tôtes and the gateway to the second enceinte were protected by being added to the supplementary inventory of historical monuments. In spite of this protection, the condition of the site has continued to deteriorate.
The first castle in Courcy was probably built of earth and wood. The structure of the fortification was conceived as a succession of three enceintes (French term used for the inner ring of fortifications), but only the last remains. Surrounded by moats, the last enceinte was about 10 m high and defended by twelve towers, of which only nine round towers remain, and a square tower which probably served as a keep. Elsewhere in the enceinte are the remains of the Saint Catherine chapel. It was built in the 12th century but greatly remodelled in the 15th-16th centuries.
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.