Monreale, Italy
1172-1267
Palermo, Italy
1143
Catania, Italy
1711
Syracuse, Italy
7th century AD
Taormina, Italy
3rd century BCE
Palermo, Italy
1185
Palermo, Italy
11th century
Cefalù, Italy
1131-1240
Piazza Armerina, Italy
4th century AD
Syracuse, Italy
5th century BC
Syracuse, Italy
5th century BC
Messina, Italy
1197
Syracuse, Italy
6th century BCE
Calatafimi-Segesta, Italy
420 BCE
Catania, Italy
1558
Syracuse, Italy
3rd century BCE
Catania, Italy
1239-1250
Calatafimi-Segesta, Italy
3rd century BCE
Provincia di Agrigento, Italy
500 BCE
Erice, Italy
12th century
The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.
The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.
The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.