The post-Franciscan Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, erected in the second half of the 14th century, is one of the most outstanding artistic and architectural achievements of sacral architecture in Poland. In the 14th century it was the highest hall church in Central Europe with the naves and aisles 26.8 metre high. The church provided inspiration for the extension of St. Johns’ Church in Toruń and St. Mary’s Church in Gdańsk in the 15th century. According to the Franciscan rule, the church does not have a tower but three rather small ave-bell towers instead. The church and the cloister remained in Franciscan hands up to the Reformation period, i.e. up to 1559. The cloister, which was the oldest and most significant in the whole of the Teutonic state, was the residence of the Prussian custos. Here during the synod of 1243 a papal bull was announced dividing the Teutonic state into four dioceses.
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.