The Cathedral Church, also known as St. John's the Baptist Church, was originally built between 1098 and 1132. It has been almost entirely rebuilt, following the original design, after the earthquake in 1743. Inside one can admire a polychrome mosaic from 1178 and a crown in wood from 1594.
Here Ruggiero, son of Tancredi, was crowned King of Sicily in the year 1191, and in the year 1225 celebrations were held for the marriage of Isabella of Brienne, queen of Jerusalem, to the emperor Federico II.
Valuable paintings of several ages are collected in the chapels, sacristy and altars.
A chapel is dedicated to St.Teodoro's relics, the Saint of the city togheter with Saint Lawrence.
It's located side by side to the cathedral's bell tower, that was completed in 1795; from the other side there are the Bishop's palace and Seminary building, built in 1720 by using the materials obtained from the demolished Basilica of Saint Leucio.
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.