Visby Cathedral

Visby Cathedral
Aerial view of Visby Cathedral
Coordinates: 57°38′30″N 18°17′52″E / 57.64167°N 18.29778°E / 57.64167; 18.29778
Location	Visby
Country	Sweden
Denomination	Church of Sweden
Website	Official site (in Swedish)
History
Consecrated	1225
Administration
Diocese	Diocese of Visby
Clergy
Bishop(s)	Sven-Bernhard Fast

Visby Cathedral (Swedish: Visby domkyrka, officially Visby S:ta Maria domkyrka) is a cathedral in Visby in Sweden. Belonging to Visby Cathedral Parish of the Church of Sweden, it serves the Diocese of Visby. and was inaugurated on 27 July 1225.

Visby Cathedral was built as a church for German traders in Visby. It was financed by a fee that every German trader arriving in Visby had to pay. Construction started at the end of the 12th century, and the church was probably finished circa 1190. Rebuilding of the church seems to have started already in 1211 however, and in 1225 a new choir was inaugurated. Originally the church was probably only used by visiting Germans, but as some of these settled permanently in Visby, it developed into a church for both resident and visiting German traders, and with time also native Gotlanders. Therefore, when it was consecrated in 1225 by the Bishop of Linköping, it was declared a church for two congregations, each with their own priest: one for visitors, and one for natives. It developed into one of the most important churches of the city, and by the late Middle Ages it was the second largest church in Visby. It is today the only medieval church of Visby still in use, with twelve other churches in the town preserved as ruins only.

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.

The first church was probably a three-aisled basilica with a large, single western tower adorned with galleries. Its transept extended beyond the main building towards the north and south. Unusually, it lacked a choir projecting towards the east, and thus was almost T-shaped, barring, possibly, a central apse or lesser apses projecting from the transept. Stylistically, this first church was similar to Romanesque churches from Westphalia and the Rhine Valley. A few details seem however to be unique. Among these is the arrangement of the tower gallery. This in turn came to inspire many more churches on Gotland, providing a rather distinct architectural style.