The Church of St. Mary the Virgin is one of the three largest churches in Rostock. It is a brick church built in the Gothic architectural style, its foundation dates back to the thirteenth century, but it was expanded and renovated at the end of the fourteenth century and converted into the current cathedral. The church is distinguished by its ornate interior walls and its triangular intersecting exterior; It is a building style typical of the Hanseatic coastal towns of northern Germany.