St. Mark's Church (Markuskirche) near the Klaus Gate at the foot of the Mönchsberg is a masterpiece of baroque architecture: the cornerstone for the Ursuline Convent church was laid in 1699. A smaller church located on the same site was destroyed by a disastrous rockfall from the Mönchsberg thirty years before. At the time of its construction, raising a building on the small strip of land between the Mönchsberg and the precipitous banks of the Salzach was a masterly performance.
Archbishop Johann Ernst von Thun called on the renowned architect, Fischer von Erlach, who was also commissioned to design other churches in Salzburg. The church was consecrated in 1705 but the construction of the convent took another two decades. It served as the seat for the Ursuline Order until 1957. Today the former St. Ursuline Church, consecrated to St. Mark the Evangelist, is known by its original name again.
Three saints adorn the church's pediment: St. Mark the Evangelist in the center with St. Augustine and St. Ursula on either side. Visitors are usually stunned by the unexpected richness of the church's interior: elaborate stucco, colorful frescoes by the Tyrolean painter, Christoph Anton Mayr, and the cupola with portrayals of St. Ursula in heaven. The saints on the façade can also be found inside the church. The altar furniture and pews are embellished with fine woodcarving.
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.