Tradition has it that this was built when the statue of the Madonna was discovered in the sea after the infields had tried unsuccessfully to carry it off during the Turkish raids of the mid-sixteenth century. The church was built prior to 1418, as evidenced by a written on the fresco above the altar. The church is documented especially from 1583 onwards, when there was an order of brothers here. Records of the apostolic visit of 1612 refer to the church as 'recently built', with a confessional and a burial ground for sailors. It has two doors and a bell tower above. It has been established that the sacristy and an oil panting date from 1742, and records state that the church was built with contributions from seafarers.By 1875, in addition to the bell tower with its two bells, the organ, the pulpit and the clock, there was a marble sanctuary with a brass gate and altar rails, as well as a framed statue. In 1905, a wooden statue and a third door had been added. A few years later, in 1913, this church and others were closed, when they were occupies by soldiers sheltering from torrential rain.
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.