The Château de Vézins is a much-altered castle in the commune of Vézins-de-Lévézou. It has been in the possession of the Vézins family for 900 years.
The first fortress was built in 1120 by Vesian de Vézins to command the Lévezou district. Following a disastrous fire in 1642, the only remains of this original castle are the vaulted rooms of the ground floor. The castle was then redeveloped in the Renaissance style.
Modern-day visitors to the horseshoe-shaped château can see the vaulted hall from the Middle Ages and the first floor rooms. Of particular note are the sculpted coats of arms on the chimney places, Aubusson tapestries from the 16th and 17th centuries and a canopied bed.
The castle was awarded the 2000 Prix du Patrimoine 2000 (heritage prize) for the Midi-Pyrénées region. It is one of a group of 23 castles in Aveyron that have joined together to provide a tourist itinerary as the Route des Seigneurs du Rouergue.
References: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.