The chapel created in 1291 by Cistercian monks assumed its present shape in 1440 when it was rebuilt as a St. Mary's brick church. The half-timber framed nave (oak beams with brick fillings) was constructed in the 16th and 17th centuries with the choir annex added in the 18th century. Later restoration works served to expose paintings from around 1470 on the walls and the triumphal arch. The oldest decorative features are the Gothic triumphal crucifix (around 1500) and the Gothic carved altar created in 1520 at Antwerp. This altar is considered one of the truly outstanding sacred works of art anywhere in Northern Germany and bears close stylistic resemblances to the Bordesholm Altar at Schleswig by Hans Brüggemann and Jan Bormann’s altar for the Güstrow parish church made in Brussels at roughly the same period. The altar was originally acquired by wealthy merchants from Stralsund for a local Church and found its way to its present location only in 1708. The pulpit was originally made for another church, too, probably again in Stralsund, and the and brass chandelier also comes from there.
References:The stone church of Gamla Uppsala, built over the pagan temple, dates from the early 12th century. Due to fire and renovations, the present church is only a remnant of the original cathedral.
Before the arrival of Christianity in Sweden, Gamla Uppsala was the seat of Swedish kings and a ceremonial site known all over northern Europe. The settlement was home to royal palaces, a royal burial ground, and a great pagan temple. The Uppsala temple, which was described in detail by Adam of Bremen in the 1070s, housed wooden statues of the Norse gods Odin, Thor and Freyr. A golden chain hung across its gables and the inside was richly decorated with gold. The temple had priests, who sacrificed to the gods according to the needs of the people.
The first Christian cathedral was probably built in the 11th century, but finished in the 12th century. The stone building may have been preceded by a wooden church and probably by the large pagan temple.