Bråborg was a former Royal castle at Bråviken. The house was built by Queen Dowager Gunilla Bielke in 1588-1590 and she lived there after her husband, King John III of Sweden, died in 1592. Gunilla Bielke herself died at Bråborg in 1597. Bråborg was later owned by her son, duke John of Östergötland. In 1612 he married his cousin, princess Maria Elisabeth of Sweden. They both died at Bråborg in 1618.
The building was partly destroyed in a fire in 1669, and in 1719 it was burnt down by a Russian army. The army also attacked the nearby town of Norrköping. The inhabitants needed stone to rebuild their town and used building material from the ruins of Bråborg. The new manor house at Bråborg was built about 1,000 metres from the burnt down house.
Today, a ruin is all that remains of the estate. The foundations and cellars are still visible today, together with the moats and parts of the gardens.
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.