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Founded: 3500 BC - 900ADCategory: Cemeteries, mausoleums and burial places in Sweden
Historical period: Neolithic Age (Sweden)
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There are three so-called passage graves lying only a couple of hundred meters from the hamlet Mysinge. A passage grave is a grave that is built of enormous stone blocks and surrounded by a cairn. The passage graves in Mysinge lie on the land ridge with openings facing southwest. The grave that has been described here has been excavated several times. It has been established that at least 30-40 persons were buried in the tomb, possibly as many as 70 persons.
Within the tomb there were remains from the greater part of the late Stone Age. It was found that the tomb was used in three different periods, the latest of which being the early Bronze Age. The oldest burial to have taken place is thought to have been in circa 3500 B.C., which makes the tomb the oldest passage grave to have been found in Scandinavia. The other two passage graves have not been excavated, but it would not be surprising if they were from the same period. The passage has 5 stones on each side and opens up to a chamber of 9 stone blocks. The roof of the chamber is made of 3 larger stone blocks with the flat side of the stones always turned inward toward the tomb.
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.