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Founded: 1138Category: Religious sites in France
Historical period: Birth of Capetian dynasty (France)
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Pairis Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in Orbey. The surviving building serves today as a nursing home.
The abbey was founded in 1138 by the count of Eguisheim as a daughter house of Lucelle Abbey. In the 13th century, abbot Martin of Pairis preached the Fourth Crusade and then participated in the misfire of it. After taking active part in the sacking of Constantinople, Martin brought several looted relics from there to Pairis, increasing the status of the monastery considerably. The monk Gunther of Pairis wrote an account of the crusade.
The abbey was joined to the Abbey of Maulbronn in 1452, confirmed by the Cistercian general chapter in 1453 and Pope Pius II in 1461. In 1648, Maulbronn was turned over to the Protestant Duchy of Württemberg by the Peace of Westphalia. The Cistercians were forced to leave and they re-established the abbey of Pairis.
The abbey was suppressed during the French Revolution.
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.