The parish church of St. Mary in Reza occupies a privileged position on the slopes of Mount Santa Ladaíña, in a place with beautiful views over river Miño. It was already mentioned in documentation from the 13th century. The Cathedral’s Treasures collection preserves the Virgin of Reza, a polychrome wood carving also from the 13th century, which also contributes to dating this church.
Although Romanesque in origin, this parish church was later extensively renovated in the Baroque and Neoclassical styles. Of its Romanesque stonework there are still elements on the southern wall, especially in the corbels. These have geometric, vegetal and figurative motifs, among which a pig’s head and a human head are distinguished.
Inside, the Romanesque modillions that support the rostrum and the baptismal font were preserved.
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.