The ancient town of La Hoya is an important archaeological site of the Bronze and Iron Ages. The fortified town was inhabited between the 15th and 3rd centuries BCE and occupies four hectares.
In the early period of Middle-Late Bronze Age, the fortifications, as well the houses, were all made of wood. In the Early-Middle Iron Age construction became more complex using mixed formulas with stone, wood and adobe. Most houses were near the wall in this period.
During the Late Iron Age, with a cultural context that some classify as Celtiberian, shows important changes in urbanization: with paved streets and plazas that form a reticular structure. The wall is also rebuilt on stone. This final period also shows great advancement in the technologies: potter's wheel, elaborated blacksmithing, etc.
The successive layers of rubble, that served as cimentations for further edification, make up a small tell 3 meters high.
The town was destroyed violently c. 300 BCE, leaving the remains of the people and their quotidian tools in the streets.
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.