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Saint-Christophe-le-Chaudry
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Founded: c. 1380Category: Castles and fortifications in France
Historical period: Valois Dynasty and Hundred Year's War (France)
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The Château de la Forêt-Grailly and its first lords were documented as early as 1380. This medieval fortress was fully fortified, surrounded by moats, and equipped with a drawbridge. During the Hundred Years' War, it played a key role in monitoring traffic on the nearby Arnon River.
By 1723, records describe the château as a pavilion-style residence with three corner towers, the fourth having collapsed a decade earlier. It was surrounded by water-filled moats, crossed by a wooden bridge, with walls enclosing the courtyard and farmyard. Over time, the moats were filled in, and the enclosing walls were demolished. A second corner tower disappeared in the 19th century, leaving only two. Around 1880, the château underwent another restoration, as it had in the 16th century.
Visitors can explore three vaulted ground-floor rooms, including two rib-vaulted halls from the early 15th century, adorned with naïve sculptures, and a Romanesque barrel-vaulted room.
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.