Kulturkirken Jakob (Jakob Church of Culture) was designed by architect Georg Andreas Bull and built in 1880. The altarpiece of the building year by Eilif Peterssen and shows the adoring shepherds. In the porch hangs a relief of the Archangel Michael. The church, with 600 seats, served as the parish church of Jakob parish until 1985, when it was closed by the due to building restoration. The church was reopened in February 2000 as a church of culture, directed by Kirkelig Kulturverksted for long term rental of the Church of Norway.
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.