The church of Sóly is the probably the oldest original Hungarian village church. Saint Stephen founded it in 1009 as votive chapel. The shrine of the church and the larger part of the nave was built at the beginning of the 11th century. The event was commemorated by the memoria erected in the centre of the village.
Being used by the Reformed congragation since the 16th century, the church boasts a small pulpit on the North side, between the shrine and the nave. With the inscription indicating the year 1775. The segments of the painted ceiling of the church dating back to 1724 and the gallery were taken in 1894 to the Museum of Applied Arts. The famous paper-mill having been in use since the 18th century, belonging to Cistercian Abbey of Zirc, which provided the Abbey with paper.
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.