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Landsfort Herle was a fortification with moat. It was probably built by the counts van Ahr-Hochstaden (also referd to as Here van Are). The name Landsfort (‘fort of the land’) comes from the fact that the fortification come under the responsibility of the land. In the 13th century Heerlen, and thus also Landsfort Herle, come in to the possession of the Dukes of Brabant, the Landsfort was (re)built by the Dukes of Brabant in 1244.
The wall is believed to be one of the oldest still recognisable in the Netherlands, part is now being excavated. A marquette of the fort was constructed from a map form 1787 found while the Pancratiuskerk was heavily reconstructed in the 1960s. The fort had three gates and had two towers (the bell tower of the church and the Schelmentoren, both with 2 metre thick walls).
In the roof of the church were little rooms for the inhabitants of Heerlen to take shelter in case of hostilities, unfortunately these rooms were destroyed when a, supposedly German, bomb hit the church at New Year's Eve 1944/1945.
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.