Veynau castle stands in the middle of the Veybach valley, built in 1340 to close the ring of castles around Euskirchen, and thus belonged to the Jülich castle-belt. This is a very extensive complex of buildings, comprising a main castle with Palas and two corner towers, as well as an inner fore-castle with two round towers and a very large outer fore-castle.
The castle is characterized by frequent conversions, but its original features are recognizable, so that the interesting details from the 14th century are still visible.
Dietrich Schinnenmann von Aldenhoven obtained the newly built castle in 1340 as a fiefdom of the Margrave of Jülich and reinforced it to become the strongest fort in this area. During its long history, the castle stood up to several wars, was often damaged, but always rebuilt and restored. The castle belonged to the Margrave of Jülich until 1722.
After the end of the duchy of Jülich there were continual changes of owner, until finally in 1843 the Duke von Aremberg acquired the entire estate. Today the main castle is owned by Prof. Harald, Baron von Elmendorff, who has extensively restored the castle with the aid of the State of North Rhine/Westphalia.
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.