The San Giovanni in Fiore Abbey date back to Joachim da Fiore's trip to La Sila in Calabria in 1188. Archaeological excavations have shown the presence of Joachim's first edifice, which was finished in 1198, in the Iure Vetere locality. The construction of the abbey was approved by Queen Constance of Hauteville after a Joachim's visit in her court at Palermo.
After Joachim's death in 1202, the first monastery and its annexed edifices were burned by a fire in 1214. The monks decided to abandon the location of Iure Vetere, also due to its difficult climatic situation.
In 1215 a site not far from the previous one was chosen, near the Neto river valley. The new abbey was completed in 1230, in the Romanesque style. In later centuries features were remodeled in different styles, including a Baroque style church interior.
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.