The first true knowledge about the foundation of the St. Vitus abbey dates back to a document from the late 11th century, probably from the scriptorium of the monastery of Gladbach. This richly illuminated document reports that a nobleman long before the founding of the abbey would have erected a church on the top of the hill, a church destroyed by the Magyars in 954.
In 1120, at the latest, the monastery was affected by the Benedictine reform Siegburg. The nave of the abbey got its definitive form between 1228 and 1239. Between 1256 and 1277, while reconstruction was developing, the idea of building a new choir appeared, but on a different plane (the typical elongated choir of the Gothic style). In order to carry out this plan, Master Gerhard, the first architect of Cologne Cathedral brought to his experience. Albert the Great consecrated the abbey on April 28, 1275.
The old Benedictine monastery church was elevated in 1973 to the rank of Minor Basilica by Pope Paul VI.
References:The church of the former Franciscan monastery was built probably between 1515 and 1520. It is located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Old Rauma. The church stands by the small stream of Raumanjoki (Rauma river).
The exact age of the Church of the Holy Cross is unknown, but it was built to serve as the monastery church of the Rauma Franciscan Friary. The monastery had been established in the early 15th century and a wooden church was built on this location around the year 1420.
The Church of the Holy Cross served the monastery until 1538, when it was abandoned for a hundred years as the Franciscan friary was disbanded in the Swedish Reformation. The church was re-established as a Lutheran church in 1640, when the nearby Church of the Holy Trinity was destroyed by fire.
The choir of the two-aisle grey granite church features medieval murals and frescoes. The white steeple of the church was built in 1816 and has served as a landmark for seafarers.