Novo Mesto Cathedral is located on a hill above the Krka River. It is distinguished by a combination of Gothic and Baroque architecture and a broken longitudinal axis, because the presbytery is higher than the nave. The original church was first mentioned in 1428, although it was standing already before. The three-pole presbytery with its quintuple axis ending has been preserved from the time.
In 1493, when the chapter was established, a reconstruction was started and lasted until 1623. In 1576, the building was damaged in a fire. Its renovation was financed by the provost Polidoro de Montagnana, who ordered the construction of a new high altar and acquired the oil painting The Vision of Saint Nicholas (c. 1582) by Venetian Mannerist painter Tintoretto to stand on it. In 1621, the nave area with Baroque arches and three Baroque chapels on each side were constructed. In the 19th century, the church was gothicised. In 1733, new side altars with paintings by Valentin Metzinger were erected. In 1860, a new polygonal belfry was erected in the shell of an older one on the west side of the church. The main altar was renovated in 1868 by Matija Tomc. In 1901, the presbytery was ornamented by Matija Koželj.
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.