St. Peter's is situated in the Næstved parish of the Diocese of Roskilde of the Church of Denmark.

Today's Gothic church replaced an older Romanesque cross-shaped building built of limestone and brick from the second half of the 12th century.

This in turn was built on the site of an even older stone church with two western towers.

Built of red brick, it is one of Denmark's largest and finest Gothic buildings, scarcely altered since 1375.

[6] The most imposing feature of the church is the pulpit, designed by Lorentz Jørgensen of Holbæk in 1671.