User Reviews
Tillegem Castle, lies south of the city of Bruges. The present castle originally dates back to the 12th or 13th century when it was owned by Lord Jan van Voormezele. It was built as a square moated castle, flanked by square corner towers.
During the next centuries the castle was owned by numerous rich families from Bruges, who rebuilt it several times, maybe due to wartime damages but also to make it more comfortable.
In 1879 Tillegem Castle was acquired by Baron Eugène Charles de Peñaranda de Franchimont. He had the castle rebuilt to its present appearance in Flemish Gothic Revival style by the architect Jean-Baptiste de Béthune.
The castle was privately inhabited until 1980. After that, it went to the provincial government. The castle was subsequently restored and made suitable for offices.
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.