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Founded: 1860'sCategory: Palaces, manors and town halls in Estonia
Historical period: Part of the Russian Empire (Estonia)
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The estate belonged to Pirita (St. Brigitta) Nunnery in medieval times. It was elaborated in the 1860s while in possession of Carl Timoleon von Neff. The two-storey Neo-Renaissance castle was projected by von Neff himself - an artist of the Russian Czarist court and also a portrait painter known all over the world. The inner marble staircase is a present from Emperor Alexander II of Russia. The building now houses a school.
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.