The Church of Snowy Mary was first mentioned in the year 1404. A rich lady from Piran donated the money for its construction. A Baroque altar from the 17th century decorates the presbytery. There are many paintings on the walls, in wooden and fretted frames, made in the year 1666 by B. Marangoni from Mantova.
On the east side, above the entrance, there is the main painting from the second half of the 17th century portraying the wonders of snow. The paintings of the Crucifixion and Revelation were discovered on the arch wall in the year 1969. The painting of the Revelation dates from the year 1430 and is the work of a Venetian painter. The Crucifixion on a pointed Gothic arch was painted later, between the years 1450 and 1460. It was presumably painted by art master Nicolo di Antonio from Piran, who worked in Padova, as substantiated by various archive sources.
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.