The three domes of the St. Michael’s Church are one of the most distinctive landmarks of Olomouc. This Baroque church was rebuilt from the original Gothic church and was consecrated probably in 1251. Outer walls and a vault at the end of the presbytery have been preserved of the original early Gothic building. The church was rebuilt into the current Early-Baroque form in 1673-1686 as proposed by G. P. Tencalla.
The single-nave structure with side chapels has a rich sculptural and painting decoration and is an example of the Baroque appeal aimed at the senses of the church-goers. The front face of the church is decorated with statues of the Virgin Mary and the Salvator Mundi by Ondřej Zahner and date from the 1830’s. A Gothic St. Alexei Chapel and a Gothic Cloister with cross vaulting adjoin the church building.
The interior was re-decorated in the Baroque style after the fire of 1709. In the years 1892-1898 the church underwent a Neo-Baroque reconstruction.
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.