Halepa Monastery was founded at the end of the era of Venetian rule and, according to documents dating back to 1555, it owned a significant amount of property.
The founder, according to an inscription at the Monastery, was Ieremias Sgouros in 1637. The monastery was destroyed during the Ottoman era but was subsequently reconstructed.
Its catholicon is situated in the middle of the courtyard, but unfortunately only ruins remain. This is a two-aisled domed basilica dedicated to the Birth of Jesus and the Transfiguration of the Saviour. In the 19th century, Abbot Ploumis wanted to build a larger church around the catholicon, but this work was never completed. The Church of Agia Marina is located just outside the Monastery.
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.