Santa María del Azogue is a Romanesque church of the 12th century with Latin cross floor plan, five apses, three naves, and large cross with four ogive vaults. The two facades of the cross have a pair of doors that are similar.Images of evangelists are used to decorate it.Inside there are Gothic sculptures from the 12th century out of which of note is the group of the Anunciación whose polychromy is still preserved today.The pillars of the church are varied and have decorative motifs based on double zig-zag and small lines of leaves.
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.