The Monastery of Santa María de Aguas Vivas, located in the municipality of Carcaixent (Valencia), Spain, is a religious building dating back to the 13th century. The current building was built during the 16th and 17th centuries with gothic and baroque styles, while the North wing was finished in the 18th century. The monastery belonged to the order of the Augustinians, guarded the image of the Virgin of Aguas Vivas, patron saint of the city of Carcaixent.
In the middle of the 19th century as a result of the Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal, the monks had to leave the convent, which became the property of the barons of Casanova, aiming at rural housing. In 1977 the monastery was acquired and refurbished to destine it to hotel residence by Antonio Vidal Bellver (photographer and entrepreneur of Carcaixent). Today is owned by a known businessman of Gandia.
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.