The Monastery of Immaculate Mother of God is a Macedonian Orthodox monastery situated near the city of Kicevo, North Macedonia. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Mother of God.
It was founded before the middle of the 16th century and in the 1570s a stone church was built on the site of the present church. In 1843, the monastery was burnt down by Albanians from Debar, but the church remained standing. The church was demolished by order of Hegumen Hadji Teodosius to build a new church and other monastery facilities. The icons of the present church were made between 1848 and 1880, many of them were created by the painter Ditscho Zograf.
In 1924 Dositej, later the first Archbishop of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, became a monk in this monastery. The monastery is also famous for the legend of the 'flying icon' that was moved three times to another monastery and, allegedly, miraculously returned by itself to the original place, guided by a ray of light. The feast of the monastery is Mala Bogorodica, (Birthday of Virgin Mary on September 21).
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.