Leicester's Church, originally known as St David's Church, is a large ruined church near to the hill top castle at Denbigh, North Wales. It was built for Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, from 1578, but financial difficulties meant work stopped in 1584. When the Earl died unexpectedly in 1588 the project was abandoned. It had been the only large church-building project in Elizabethan England or Wales. On Robert Dudley's death with no heir, his estates reverted to the Crown, as a roofless enclosed space. It is now a Grade I listed building and Scheduled Ancient Monument, cared for by Cadw, the Welsh historic environment service.
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.