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Podlastva Monastery was mentioned for the first time in 1417, and the Code of Grbalj was adopted there in 1427. In the past, it was the spiritual and political centre of Grbalj. Next to the church, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, there are residential quarters, which previously included a school.
The monastery suffered serious damage in the earthquake of 1979, and subsequent archaeological explorations revealed that an early Christian basilica could have been on this location in the 5th or 6th centuries.A legend has it that the Serbian king Lazar, a nephew of Tsar Dusan, was born here.
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.