The Roman Forum Museum of Molinete stands as the entrance to one of the largest urban archaeological parks in Spain. Throughout its various halls, where a careful selection of pieces is exhibited, you will be able to learn about the long history of Cerro del Molinete from today back to the old Carthago Nova.
The visit concludes with a tour of important remains of the glorious Roman era that invite you to stroll through them: the Curia or local senate with its richly decorated marble pavement; the Colonial Forum, the city’s neuralgic centre, the distribution of which symbolised at various levels the hierarchy between the divine and the human; the Sanctuary of Isis where the mystery cults of the Egyptian gods were celebrated; the old roads with cart tracks; the port’s thermal baths and in particular its magnificent entrance portico with its original flooring; and to finish the Atrium Building, with its high walls and pictorial decorations that transport you to the great banquets of the Roman Empire.
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.