The Vrsar castle is a former palace and residence of the bishop of Poreč who ruled Vrsar from the 6th century until 1778. Today’s castle is basically a medieval building that was extended and altered in Baroque style in the 17th century. With the establishment of the Venetian reign in 1778, the castle was taken away from the Church and laicised. In the 19th century, it came under the ownership of the Vergottini family. The castle was renovated in 2001, and today it serves as a privately owned residential property in the country. The building dominates the townscape of Vrsar, and is clearly visible from the east entrance into the town, from the open sea and from the island of Sveti Juraj. It is the tallest and largest historical building in Vrsar.
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.