St. Lawrence's Church Ruins

Visby, Sweden

Saint Lawrence’s church (Sankt Lars) was built in the central parish around 1210-1220. In the same cemetery a German parish church, Holy Trinity (Drotten in Swedish), was built around 1240. The church was abandoned after the Reformation. Architecturally, Saint Lawrence has its models in Orthodox churches, and it has been wrongly suggested that it would have been a Russian church. It’s more reasonable to imagine an architect influenced by Russian architecture. Sometimes the church has been called Saint Anna (Sankta Anna) the mother of the Virgin Mary.

Address

Nunnegränd 5, Visby, Sweden

See all sites in Visby

Details

Founded: 1210-1220
Category: Religious sites in Sweden
Historical period: Consolidation (Sweden)

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.5/5 (based on Google user reviews)

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User Reviews

april evans (4 years ago)
It was beautiful inside. Take a minute to see it.

Jason Martin (4 years ago)
Fantastic ruin with lots of space and perfect for shows. Just plain beautiful.

Shariq Siddiqui (4 years ago)
This church is a Heritage Monument, it was closed when we reach, and it was being repaired at that time...

Paulina Raduchowska (5 years ago)
Amazing venue in a beautiful ruined church.

Aleksandras Kulak (5 years ago)
There is no possibility to see it inside

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Infomastern

Historic Site of the week

Visby Cathedral

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.