The present church at Hamre cannot be dated precisely. It was historically thought to have been built around 1622, but more recently an inscription on the old main door was found that suggests that it may have been built in 1585, in which case it is the first wooden church to be built near Bergen. Hamre Church was founded in 1024, and it was the main church for all of Nordhordland. There isn't much known about the original church building, but at some point it was torn down and a stave church was built to replace it. The stave church was replaced by the present church sometime around 1600.
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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.