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The first written mention of Sokolov is from 1279 under a name Falkenau / Falknov. The town was a property of noble families of Nothaft and later Schlick. The Schlick family built here a small castle.
The current palace was built after 1663 in the late renaissance style on the groundwork of the former castle of the Schlick era surrounded by water canal, that was heavily damaged during the Thirty Year's War. To the time period of this reconstruction belongs also the fountain standing in the central courtyard bearing the coats of arms of Jan Hartvik Nostic and his wife Maria Eleonora Popel of Lobkowitz. Originally the palace had two gates and cupolas on the towers. It was encircled by a water canal, surrounded by a park decorated with sculptures and a deer-park. In 19th century it was remodeled in the classicist and later architectonic styles; that's when the towers got the recent typical spires. In 1619 it hosted the so called 'Winter King' Friedrich of Falconia, also the Emperor Joseph I with his wife Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick stayed here in 1702. In 1945 it was the headquarters of the American Army that liberated the region annexed to the German territory in the time period of 1938-1945. Since 1960 the Sokolov palace is the seat of the Regional Museum which specializes in the history of the region, the history of mining and related geology and ecology.
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.