Santa Caterina is a Baroque-style, Roman Catholic church located on Piazza Castello, in Casale Monferrato. This church was erected for Dominican nuns and consecrated in 1726. The architect was Giacomo Zanetti using designs by Giovanni Battista Scapitta. The highly decorated facade is in close proximity to the elliptical dome. The interiors were frescoed by Giovanni Carlo Aliberti who painted the Saints and Allegories of the Virtues, while the dome was painted by lesser-known painters Benaschi and Vittore. The statue of the Virgin of the Assumption (1780) on the main altar was sculpted by Giovanni Battista Bernero.
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.