Santa Cristina is a Baroque style, Roman Catholic church located in Turin. It mirrors the adjacent church of San Carlo and faces the Piazza San Carlo. The arrangement recalls the twin churches (chiese gemelle) of Santa Maria dei Miracoli (1681) and Santa Maria in Montesanto (1679) facing the Piazza del Popolo in Rome.
The original layout was designed in 1620 by the architect Carlo di Castellamonte, and construction pursued until 1639. The project was only completed between 1715 and 1718, under the guidance of Filippo Juvarra, including the facade elaborately decorated with ovals and details with statues of saints and allegories of the virtues. The adjacent convent housed nuns of the Order of the Discalced Carmelites. In 1802, the order was suppressed in Turin by Napoleonic forces. The interiors were modified in the 19th-century and after the bombardments of World War II.
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.