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Founded: 1490Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Denmark
Historical period: Kalmar Union (Denmark)
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Gammel Estrup Manor as we know it today was built in 1490, but excavations have revealed evidence of earlier constructions also mentioned in texts under the name Essendrup dating back to 1340.
The construction of Gammel Estrup was started by the contentious Lave Brock. But it was his great-grandson, Eske Brock who most people today think of in connection with the manor. Eske Brock was a nobleman and close friend of King Christian IV to whom he also served as a minister. Through Brock's detailed diaries we know a great deal about the King's life.
From 1930 the manor has served as a museum, showing the development of Danish nobility through the ages. The surrounding buildings support the museum, the nearby apple plantation and a horticulture research center.
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.