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The abbatial complex of the Saint Eufemia was founded by Robert Guiscard in the second half of the 11th century in the place of an ancient Byzantine monastery. Present archaeological investigations concern the church, with the focus on the area of the great presbytery and the main apse. In this part, 3-4 m deeper than the ground level (that has risen in time due to the frequent floods of the Bagni river) a polychromatic tessellated marble pavement decorated with geometric patterns of Norman origins was located. In the same site, the outer walls and the pillars supporting the barrel roof were also discovered. The remains of the altar, deprived of marble covering, stand on a raised marble rectangular tribune, in the center of the apse. The semicircular part of the main apse lies under the local road passing near the church.
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.