Solberga Abbey (Swedish: Solberga kloster), was a Cistercian nunnery in Sweden, in operation from 1246 until at least 1469. It was located outside Visby on Gotland until 1404, and then in Visby. It was the only nunnery on the island of Gotland.
Solberga Abbey was likely a daughter convent of Vreta Abbey. On 12 August 1246, Bishop Laurentius of Linköping mentions that the first nuns had been sent to Gotland. This likely refers to Solberga, which was the only nunnery on the island. In contrast to what was previously believed, Solberga was a large convent with many members. It had both an abbess and a prioress. In 1361, many fallen from the Battle of Visby was buried on the abbey's land, where a cross, which still stands, was erected.
The abbey was presumably destroyed by the war between the Victual Brothers, the Teutonic Knights and the forces of the Kalmar Union in 1398–1403. In 1404, the abbess applied for help from the Master of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia, then in control of Gotland, to found a new abbey. The nuns were allowed to reside in the St. Jacob chapel in Visby. From 1469, they lived by the St. Gertrud chapel in Visby. During the 15th century, the nuns were still, event though no longer in residence at Solberga, referred to as the Solberga nuns. It is not known exactly when the nunnery was dissolved. It may not have lasted until the reformation. By 1469, the nuns were described as "the diminished nuns of Visby".
Coordinates: 57°38′0.70″N18°17′55.50″E / 57.6335278°N 18.2987500°E
Visby is an urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants as of 2017. Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic city of Visby is arguably the best-preserved medieval city in Scandinavia, and, since 1995, it has been on the UNESCO World Heritage site list. Among the most notable historical remains are the 3.4 km (2.1 mi) long town wall that encircles the town center, and a number of church ruins.
The Diocese of Linköping is a diocese within the Church of Sweden administering the Östergötland County, the north eastern part of Jönköping County and the northern part of Kalmar County. It comprises nine deaneries subdivided into 176 parishes with a total of 443,000 members. The dioecese's largest parish is Motala. The Diocese of Linköping has a rank directly below the Archdiocese of Uppsala of the Church of Sweden. The current bishop is Martin Modéus.
Heggbach Abbey was a Cistercian nunnery in Heggbach, now part of the municipality of Maselheim in the district of Biberach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Ljugarn is a locality on the Swedish island of Gotland, with 200 inhabitants in 2014. It is located at the east coast of the island in Ardre south of Slite. It is regarded as a popular and quiet area as well as holiday village for tourists and vacationers. Ljugarn is the oldest seaside resort in Gotland, and was formerly a port, fishing village, pilot station and the county seat of Ljugarn County. The 1.5 km (0.93 mi) long flat sandy beach, one of the longest in Gotland, is visited throughout the year. Since the early 20th century the village has had pensions, restaurants, hostels, coffee-shops and a grocery store.
Söflingen Abbey was a nunnery of the Order of Poor Ladies, also known as the Poor Clares, the Poor Clare Sisters, the Clarisse, the Minoresses, or the Second Order of St. Francis. It was situated in the village of Söflingen, now part of Ulm in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Being the oldest nunnery of this order in Germany, it was also its most important and most affluent.
Vreta Abbey, in operation from the beginning of the 12th century to 1582, was the first nunnery in Sweden, initially Benedictine and later Cistercian, and one of the oldest in Scandinavia. It was located in the present-day municipality of Linköping in Östergötland.
Wienhausen Abbey or Convent near Celle in Lower Saxony, Germany, is a community of Evangelical Lutheran women, which until the Reformation was a Cistercian Catholic nunnery. The abbey owns significant artworks and artifacts, including a collection of tapestries and the earliest surviving example of a type of eyeglasses.
Bakke Abbey was a medieval nunnery in Trondheim in Norway.
St. Clare's Priory, Stockholm, was a Roman Catholic nunnery of the Poor Clares in Stockholm, Sweden that was active from 1289 to the Swedish Reformation in 1527.
Gudhem Abbey is the ruin of a nunnery which was in operation from 1152 to 1529. It is located in Gudhem outside Falköping in the Falbygden area in Västergötland, Sweden. It was initially part of the Benedictine and later Cistercian order. It is considered to have been one of the oldest convents in Sweden; after Vreta Abbey (1100) and Alvastra Abbey (1143).
The Abbey of the Holy Cross in Rostock, Germany, was founded in the 13th century by Cistercian nuns. It is the only fully preserved abbey in the city. The complex includes the former abbey church which is used today as the University Church (Universitätskirche). The remaining former convent buildings house the Museum of Cultural History for the city of Rostock.
Riseberga Abbey, was a Cistercian nunnery in Sweden, in operation from circa 1180 until 1534. It was located near Fjugesta in Närke. It had the right to appoint the vicar of the Edsberg parish, which was under the jurisdiction of the abbey. The ruins of the buildings are preserved, and the Amphitheatre of the abbey are presently used as a Sylvan theater.
Skänninge Abbey, also known as St. Ingrid's Priory, St. Martin's Priory or, simply, as Skänninge Nunnery, was a Roman Catholic convent for females of the Dominican Order in Skänninge in Sweden, in operation from 1272 until 1544. It was founded by Saint Ingrid of Skänninge, and the center of her cult, and as such, it was often referred to as St. Ingrid's Priory. Located near the church dedicated to Martin of Tours, it was originally named St. Martin's Priory, though this name was rarely used in practice. The common name for it was Skänninge Abbey, but as there was also a convent for male members of the Dominican Order in Skänninge, it was often called Skänninge Nunnery to separate it from the male monastery.
Ardre is a populated area, a socken, on the Swedish island of Gotland. It comprises the same area as the administrative Ardre District, established on 1 January 2016. It is most noted for the Viking Ardre image stones found under the floor boards of the Ardre Church.
Pehr Magnus Arvid Säve was a Swedish teacher, cultural historian and artist. He was the initiator of the Gotlands Fornvänner society and Gotland Museum.
Askeby Abbey was a Cistercian nunnery in operation from the late 12th century until 1529. It was located in Askeby outside Linköping, Sweden.
Marienbrunn Abbey also called Fons Mariae and Triumphus Marie was a double convent for women and men of the order of the Bridgettines, situated in Gdańsk between 1391 and 1833. It was the first convent of the order founded outside of Sweden, and the second convent of the order altogether.
Saint Lars Church ruin is located in the central part of Visby on the island of Gotland, Sweden.