St. Catherine Church of the ruin , also called Sankta Karin Church of the ruin , is a church building ( ruins ) in Visby in Visby diocese . Originally it was built by the Franciscan order in Visby, founded in 1233 St. Catherine had many patron saints: St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Mary Magdalene (whose relic was found in the high altar), St. Francis, St. Luis, St. Clara and St. Antonius.
Originally the church consisted of a long narrow single-faced church with conical cows and tall round arched windows. One of these restored windows can still be seen in the western part of the church. The new church, whose southern wall and western part are part of the present building, was completed around 1250 and received St. Catherine of Alexandria as its patron saint. The church stood in the centre of the city and a market square appeared in front of the building.
Soon the church needed to be expanded. Churches in Gotland usually expanded by adding new parts around the old building, resulting in a combination of styles, such as large Gothic cows and long houses, with a much smaller Romanesque tower in the west. However, this could not have been done when St. Catherine was expanded as there was no space south or west of the church. Instead, the church was enlarged to the north-east.
Construction continued until the middle of the 1300s, when it was stopped, probably because Valdemar Atterdag had conquered the island and the city in 1361. In the second half of the 1300s, work on the church was resumed and a new choir was planned. In 1374, Albert Gardin later bought the Guardian (who ran the monastery) two east of the brothels of the church bathhouse and two years later Bishop Niels laid the first stone in the foundation of the new choir. The choir was completed in 1388 and opened in 1391 by Archbishop Henrik. After the choir, the extension of the long house began, but in 1402 six arches collapsed. This led to new columns and new arches, now made of brick, as well as the construction of the present choir, which was opened by the title bishop. Scopia (Skopje) 1412.
When the church was the largest in the 1400s, it was a three-tiered hall church with a wide midships and narrow side ships. The church had many tall windows with sprinklers and stained glass windows. On the western facade of the building were its largest gates, topped with a relief of Christ the Resurrection. The portal leading to the sacristy was decorated with rose relief. The floor was covered with limestone slabs and burial pits.
However, the Church of Catherine has never been fully completed. During the 1400s, money was instead placed on congress buildings, and in 1403 the summer dining room and refectory were completed. In 1409, they worked with the southern dormitory. In 1419, the house was built on the east side. In 1442, another library was added. All these buildings are on the south side of the church. The hall here was equipped with a heating system (hypokausta).
