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Augustae was built as a fortified military camp in the mid-1st century, as the first fortification was made of wood and earth. The castle was naturally protected to the south by the Ogosta River, to the east and north by marshland. Access was possible only from the western side, where a fortified wall reinforced with a ditch was erected. In the 2nd-4th century Augustae developed as a Roman and an early Byzantine urban centre. Its total area reaches about 9 hа.
The fortress had the shape of an irregular pentagon extending from north to south. The fortress wall was dug inside up to 2.30 m and its thickness reached 2.50 m. Its walls were made of roughly worked stones, bonded with white mortar. The fortress had three gates - one to the west, north and east. The defence system consisted of protruding towers. The necropolis was located west of the fortress. Archaeologists have uncovered the fortification system of the Early Roman camp and the settlement dating to the Late Antiquity. The western wall with three rectangular towers and the western gate of the stone fortification have been explored. The site of the severely destroyed northern gate has also been established. Buildings have been uncovered in the inner part of the site, located in the approximate centre of the early Roman camp. In the 3rd–4th century the city was restored periodically after the invasions of the Goths. The last destructive invasion by the Avars in the 6th century marked the end of its existence.
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.