The first church in Kainuu province was built to Manamansalo in 1559. This church was burned by the Karelians and Russians in 1578. The church bell was stolen and carried as a war booty to the Russian monastery in Solovetski, the White Sea.
The memorial church, designed by Tuomas Väyrynen and Eero Huotari, was built in 1959 to the site where the original church have probably been. The memorial is an outdoor church with bell tower, altar and fixed benches.
Close to the church is also an old Christian cemetery, which was used in the late 1500’s.
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.