Its origins go back to 1419 when Eric of Pomerania, king of the Nordic Kalmar Union, established a Franciscan monastery.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the church had close connections with Nykøbing Castle (now demolished) which became the residence of Denmark's dowager queens.

[1][2] The church lies close to the southern limit of the town as, in the Middle Ages, it was on relatively high ground.

[1][2] The lower level of today's aisle was connected to the church by a doorway but later three round arches were completed.

[2] The elaborate altarpiece from 1616 is in the Renaissance style with paintings from Antonius Clement's workshop in Odense depicting the Crucifixion in the central panel flanked by Isaac's Sacrifice and the Snake in the Desert.

The artistic Mecklenburg Ancestral Table on which Antonius Clement started to work in 1622, completing it in 1627, shows 63 of Queen Sophie's ancestors from five generations with small paintings of each.

[2] Christopher Herfordt of Copenhagen received permission in 1665 to erect a burial compound on the south side of the church.

Later known as Herfordt's Chapel, the brick structure is reported to have been covered with a half-roof and enclosed with wrought-iron railings.

In 1967, the iron gate which stood at the western end of the churchyard was moved to the south entrance near the church's eastern wall.