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Founded: 1663Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Sweden
Historical period: Swedish Empire (Sweden)
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Gripenberg Castle (Gripenbergs slott) is a wooden manor house. It is considered to be the biggest wooden castle in Sweden and one of the oldest that remain today as well.
The castle was built in 1663 as a huntig seat for the field marshal Carl Gustaf Wrangel. Its architect is unknown, but there is some reason to believe, that it might have been Nicodemus Tessin the Elder. It is assumed that the castle's name is derived from the name of Wrangel's mother Margareta Grip and that Wrangel might have chosen it to commemorate her. By the end of the 17th century the castle was bought by Samuel von Söderling and remained in the possession of his family until today.
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.