Date of Visit

​​​​​2023

 		 
Croatia


Zadar


Church of St Donatus






 
 

Summary

The Church of St. Donatus in Zadar, Croatia, is a monumental 9th‑century pre‑Romanesque rotunda built atop the city’s Roman forum, incorporating ancient columns, capitals, and altar fragments directly into its foundations. Originally dedicated to the Holy Trinity and later renamed for Bishop Donatus - its likely founder and a key diplomatic figure between Byzantium and the Carolingian world - it exemplifies the centralized Carolingian architectural type, with a distinctive cylindrical form, three apses, and a surrounding gallery. Once used variously as a warehouse and later an archaeological museum, the church today stands as Zadar’s most iconic structure and serves as an atmospheric venue for medieval and Renaissance music concerts, prized for its resonant acoustics.

 


 
Construction of the Church of Donatus was started in the second half of the 8th century by Donatus of Zadar, the then Bishop of the city who was later to become a saint. It was completed in the 9th century and given the name the Church of the Holy Trinity. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque (late 8th century, to the beginning of the 11th century) building in Croatia.

Built on the northeastern part of the Roman Forum, its construction used many of the materials taken from buildings that were found there. This includes the stone at the base of one of the supports.

 


Many of its original elements, which include two of its supporting pillars can also be seen, as can the slabs of the forum as the church floor has been removed.

Circular in shape, which was typical of the early medieval age in Dalmatia. It stands 27 metres high and was originally domed. 

 


It has three radially situated apses (a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome) an ambulatory (the covered passage) around the central area, and a circular gallery above.
 


This is accessed by a stone circular stairway. 

 

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The roof incorporates a timber ceiling.

 


Apart from its use as a church, it has, during the city’s occupation by the Venetians (1346-1358), French (1806-1809), and Austrians (1867–1918) been used as a warehouse and after the city became part of Yugoslavia it served as an archaeological museum for a short period of time. Today, due to its acoustics, it is used as a concert venue for the annual International Festival of Medieval Renaissance Music.


 

 
 

              All  Photographs were taken by and are copyright of Ron Gatepain
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