Pollentia was founded by the consul Qintus Caecilius Metellus in 123 BC in the strategic location between the bays of Pollenca and Alcudia. It was the most important city in the Balearics duing the Roman period and covered an area of 15-20 hectares.
This area suffered a devastating fire in the 3rd century AD, but the city was not depopulated, since the construction of a fortification in the fifth century AD has been documented in the same forum. In the following centuries, the Pollentia site was partially or totally unpopulated, with the Christian medieval population settling down a bit further north, in the present town of Alcúdia. Excavations, since the 16th century, but especially since the beginning of the 20th century, have occurred mainly in the area of Sa Portella (a residential district), Camp d'en França (the city forum and the tabernae), and in the Roman theater.
There is also a museum, the Museu Monografic de Pollentia in the centre of Alcudia (by the church) which displays many of the objects found on the site.
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.