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Founded: 14th centuryCategory: Religious sites in Estonia
Historical period: Danish and Livonian Order (Estonia)
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Märjamaa Church boasting lofty walls was built in the 14th century as the mightiest fortress-church in western Estonia. Its main characteristics are asceticism, simplicity, utility and quality. Its exceptionally high and thick walls used to be capped with balustrades.
Märjamaa Church is the only fully preserved medieval church in Rapla County. The churchyard contains a Maltese stone cross dating from 1720 and bearing the inscription “Mu Poig”. In terms of interior proportions, the church is considered to be the finest of all Estonian county churches. At the times of the Livonian War, the shelter above the arches saved locals from the troops of the Russian ruler Ivan the Terrible.
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.