Fort Lupin, also known as Fort de la Charente, is an artillery battery in Saint-Nazaire-sur-Charente, in the department of Charente-Maritime. It was built in the 1680s to a design by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, and it is now in good condition.
The fort consists of a semi-circular gun battery ringed by a parapet with twenty-two embrasures. A tour-réduit and two blockhouses are located at the gorge. The fort is further protected by a ditch, a covertway and a glacis.
Fort Lupin was never attacked, and it never fired its guns in anger. It was decommissioned in the late 19th century, and was subsequently abandoned and vandalized.
The fort was sold to a private owner in 1964. The owners have restored the fort, and today it is in good condition. It is not open to the public on a regular basis.
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.