Located at the western end of the Monleón village, next to a steep area that dominates the confluence of the Carnicero stream with the Alagón river, Monleón Castle was raised in the 13th century as part of the defensive walls that surround the village.
Its groundplan is an irregular trapeze, with the keep in the middle. The north and east wall of the enclosure are built later than the others, to obtain a fortified perimeter that defended the tower from inside the village. The square keep is made up of large granite blocks reinforced with ashlar masonry at its corners. The top is fitted with 8 turrets. In medieval times the keep could be accessed on the second floorlevel by means of a removable stair or drawbridge. Its interior was fitted with five floors.
In 1477 the castle was besieged by the troops of King Fernando the Catholic. The reason for this was that its lord; a Salamancan knight, Don Bernardo Maldonado the Tyrant, had been manufacturing false currency amongst other crimes that caused great damage to the surrounding territories.
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.