Amendolea Castle has Norman origins, and it was enlarged subsequently in the late Middle Ages. It is now made up of two recognizable parts. One is the entrance of parallel piped shape, separated by a wall around the residential area. And the second is the rectangular hall of the latter, with very high walls and arched windows and small towers, one of which, isolated, served as a dungeon. With an irregular plan and strong walls, the Castle houses a chapel tower, built in the Norman age. At the second level of the tower, there is a small apsidal church with an entrance facing south, as in the Byzantine tradition. The castle was rebuilt several times, until the earthquake of 1783 that caused important collapses that could not be fixed.
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.