Holy Saviour of Priesca (Iglesia de San Salvador de Priesca) is a pre-romanesque church, located in Priesca, next to Villaviciosa. Only a few kilometres from the Church of San Salvador de Valdediós, it is amongst the latest examples of Asturian architecture.
With Alfonso III dead and the kingdom of Asturias divided among his sons, Asturian pre-romanesque architecture entered its last stage. Consecrated on September 24, 921, it has the architectural and decorative reference of the model laid down by the Church of San Julián de los Prados.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, it underwent several reconstructions, altering especially the structures adjoining the vestibule, by communicating them with the side aisles. In 1936, during the Spanish civil war, the original roof burned but it kept most of its sculptured decoration and original paintings.
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.