Tradition has it that this was built when the statue of the Madonna was discovered in the sea after the infields had tried unsuccessfully to carry it off during the Turkish raids of the mid-sixteenth century. The church was built prior to 1418, as evidenced by a written on the fresco above the altar. The church is documented especially from 1583 onwards, when there was an order of brothers here. Records of the apostolic visit of 1612 refer to the church as 'recently built', with a confessional and a burial ground for sailors. It has two doors and a bell tower above. It has been established that the sacristy and an oil panting date from 1742, and records state that the church was built with contributions from seafarers.By 1875, in addition to the bell tower with its two bells, the organ, the pulpit and the clock, there was a marble sanctuary with a brass gate and altar rails, as well as a framed statue. In 1905, a wooden statue and a third door had been added. A few years later, in 1913, this church and others were closed, when they were occupies by soldiers sheltering from torrential rain.
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.