During centuries, fortification walls and towers were built to protect ancient Nessebar. The first inhabitants on the peninsula were the Thracians who started to build these walls in the 8th century BC. From this period, a fortified wall and gate were found and can be seen today. After the decay of the Roman Empire, Byzantine rulers started an active construction work in the middle of the 5th century AD. The built walls were in style opus mixtum- an alternation of bricks and stone. Best preserved walls can be seen today near the city gate. The early Byzantine construction system was used in the middle ages as well.
Due to enemy war attacks, part of the walls were destroyed, but then quickly rebuilt. After the Ottoman rule in 1453, the fortification walls lost their significance and strategic importance and were left in ruins.
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.