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Founded: 13th centuryCategory: Castles and fortifications in France
Historical period: Late Capetians (France)
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The Vieux-Port (Old Harbour), is at the heart of La Rochelle. Enclosed by its mighty medieval towers (Saint Nicolas and La Chaîne), the picturesque harbour is now lined with seafood restaurants and bars.
Since the 13th century, the port of La Rochelle has occupied this site. It is likely that from the beginning it was fortified. The remaining towers date from the 14th and 15th centuries. They survived the destruction of the enclosure after the siege of 1628. On each side of the entrance, the Saint Nicolas tower, the highest, and the La Chaîne, and further on, linked to the latter by a curtain wall, the Lantern tower, both a lighthouse and a prison.
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.