Built in the 12th century, Santa María Magdalena is a small Romanesque church of the Templars. At their suppression, it was given to the Venerable Order of Saint John. The exterior features a deeply recessed south entrance, with circular arches and shafts, as well as ornate Romnnesque work. The rose window, formed with small columns, is similar to the Temple Church in London.
The interior includes canopied tombs dating to the 13th century, supported by spiral and fluted shafts. Against the north wall, there is a tomb under a canopy supported by three shafts. The sepulchre itself is plain, carved with a cross; the effigy of its occupant is carved, as if lying on a bed, out of a bold block of stone, and inserted in the wall; above this is the soul (in the shape of a head with wings) supported by angels.
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.