The water-encircled Schoten castle started as a farm in the 13th century. The first record of farm dates from 1232. In the 15th and 16th centuries it was owned by the family Van Brecht from Breda. They began the construction of the present castle in 1548 and in 1611 the building got its present form. The building was acquired in 1950 by the city of Schoten and in 1955 it was converted into a cultural 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.