The church of Notre-Dame was founded around 1060 by Robert I of Vitré and donated in 1116 to the Abbey of Saint-Melaine in Rennes. It was almost entirely rebuilt in the 15th and 16th centuries: only the choir remains of the old church, whose windows were modified in the 15th century. The southern façade, built in two campaigns (1480-1500 and 1530-1540) has seven gables separated by pinnacle buttresses. It is adorned with a beautiful pulpit for preaching. The west façade dates from the 1580s, its door has kept its original leaves, dated 1586. The collateral and the north crosspiece were rebuilt in 1467. The spire of the central tower (1420-1442) was rebuilt in stone in 1858.
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.