The cathedral church of St. James the Elder is situated within the old quarter next to the city walls and in the past it could fulfil a defensive function. It was built in stages from 1380 until 1445 and finally completed in its present shape during the early 17th c. The building was erected on the rectangular plan of ceramic bricks, with nave and two aisles, hall type, without separate presbytery. Late Gothic vaulting is late 16th c. During the same time (1562-1596) the tower was added. Piotr Olszewski designed chapels flanking the tower in 1721.
The interior décor is mainly new gothic. The older elements are: in the left aisle a late Gothic triptych from early 16th c., in the right aisle the painted triptych – “Crucifixion” of 1553 in new-gothic framing. The main altar and pulpits in new-gothic style. In the baptistery chapel a Baroque 18th c. painting of the Virgin of the Rosary surrounded by St, Catherine of Siena and St. Dominique. Initially the church was a parish church of St. James the Elder, patron of the town later raised to the distinction of a joint cathedral.
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.