Kunětická Hora Castle is a castle in the municipality of Ráby in the Czech Republic. The castle played an important role during the Hussite Wars of the early 15th century, as a fortress of Diviš Bořek of Miletínek. Today the castle is open to the public as a museum.
In 1491 it was bought by Vilém of Pernštejn, who had the castle rebuilt in the late Gothic style, with two towers and a moat. The construction was continued by Vilém's sons in the early Renaissance style. During the Thirty Years' War, in the early 17th century, the castle was besieged several times; at the end of the war, Swedish troops burned it to the ground.
The castle remained a ruin until the early 20th century, when the Pardubice Museum Society was formed. The group purchased the site in 1919 and began reconstruction in 1923, according to the plans of architect Dušan Jurkovič. The rebuilding was completed in 1996.
Today the castle is open to the public as a museum. On display are surviving murals, including a 1523 work depicting Samson and Delilah, the oldest known Renaissance mural in Bohemia. The castle also hosts occasional music or theatrical performances.
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.