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El Moral Castle is located in the heart of the historic town centre of Lucena. It was originally built by the Moorish califate of Al-Andalus in the 9th century on the site of Roman and Visigoth remains. Later the castle was the headquarters of the 'donceles', a military body and group of elite nobles serving King Ferdinand the Catholic. The Keep was where King Boabdil was held prisoner after being captured in the battle of Martín González (1483), near the Sierra de Aras. It later became the residence of the Marquises of Comares.
The building currently houses the Archaeological and Ethnological Museum of Lucena, which features the Hall of Sima del Ángel, an important site from the Lower Palaeolithic era, considered one of the three essential sites for discovering the origins of mankind in Spain together with Orce and Atapuerca. The Jewish Room, refers to the ancient Jewish city of Eliossana, known as the Pearl of Sepharad.
There are stunning views of the town from the Paseo de Ronda and the terrace of the Keep.
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.