The church dates from the medieval period and was, according to tradition, inaugurated by Archbishop Jakob Ulfsson on 29 June 1492. This day is the Feast of the Apostle Peter, and the church is dedicated to Peter. The masonry is of natural stone with window and door surrounds and gables in brick. Previously the church's walls were rendered. On the first occasion the church was limewashed white, and later painted red. In 1954 the render was chipped away, and today the stone material can be seen, consisting of some 40 different types of rock or variations of rock. The church's roof is covered with wooden shingles and tarred. On the roof sits a ridge turret with a ball, cross and a gilded cockerel.
Around the church lies the church town, consisting of 405 cottages divided into 553 chambers. Gammelstad's church town, with its living church-town tradition, was inscribed on 7 December 1996 on UNESCO's World Heritage List of cultural and natural sites of outstanding value to humanity.