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Czluchów Gate is the only surviving gate out of the three entrances which once led to the town. The remaining two (Młyńska and Gdańska) were pulled down in 1838. The gates constituted a significant element in the town’s defensive system. All of them had drawbridges at the front, with bridgeheads protecting it from the other side. A six-floor Czluchów gate was built on a square plan in the Pomeranian Gothic style. Its first floors form an entrance, with doors which are considered to have led to rooms with a mechanism for lifting the portcullis and the drawbridge.
Throughout history the gate has served different purposes. It was used as a watchtower and armoury, then it functioned as a prison for municipal residents. This is when the inscriptions engraved on the brick walls come from. The gate was also a bell tower for Protestant Churches. Today, it houses the exhibition rooms of the Historic and Ethnographic Museum.
The Museum’s collection has been divided into four sections: archaeological, historical, ethnographical, and artistic. The last one is located on the top floor and hosts temporary exhibitions. It overlooks the town from four different directions, offering magnificent views.
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.