Built in the 12th century, Santa María Magdalena is a small Romanesque church of the Templars. At their suppression, it was given to the Venerable Order of Saint John. The exterior features a deeply recessed south entrance, with circular arches and shafts, as well as ornate Romnnesque work. The rose window, formed with small columns, is similar to the Temple Church in London.
The interior includes canopied tombs dating to the 13th century, supported by spiral and fluted shafts. Against the north wall, there is a tomb under a canopy supported by three shafts. The sepulchre itself is plain, carved with a cross; the effigy of its occupant is carved, as if lying on a bed, out of a bold block of stone, and inserted in the wall; above this is the soul (in the shape of a head with wings) supported by angels.
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.