Details
Founded: 1649Category: Historic city squares, old towns and villages in Finland
Historical period: Swedish Empire (Finland)
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Kristiinankaupunki (Kristinestad in Swedish) was founded by Count Peter Brahe on the island of Koppö in 1649. Kristiinankaupunki has centuries old traditions as a marketing and trading town and a distinguished shipping history with its ship- and boatbuilding traditions. The beautiful town hall was built in 1856.
Today the centre of the little town of 7660 inhabitants has changed its face somewhat, but in the narrow alleys you can travel hundreds of years back in time. The authentic and picturesque wooden town with its wooden fences stems from the 18th and 19th centuries. Kristiinankaupunki is one of Scandinavia’s best preserved wooden towns.
Kristiinankaupunki is the first Finnish town to be chosen to join the international Cittaslow network.
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.