Details
Founded: 1450-1520Category: Religious sites in Finland
Historical period: Middle Ages (Finland)
User Reviews
Ingemo Åsgård (7 years ago)
Freek Bes (8 years ago)
The church of Maria Magdalena is a medieval stone church built during 15th and 16th century, probably around years 1500-1520. The church has been renovated 1859-1861 and again 1968.
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.