RAB, a town and port on the western coast of the island bearing
the same name; population 592. Situated on an elongated peninsula
between the Cove of St. Fumia and the port of Rab, where a compact
Mediterranean settlement was built. The climate is extremely favourable;
the average annual air temperature in January is 6.7 °C, and in July
23.2 °C; the average relative air humidity is 68 %; the new part of the
town developed opposite the port. The town port lies in a protected bay;
the outer and inner ports are divided by a breakwater. The depth in the
central part of the inner harbour attains between 3 and 5 m; 6-8 m along
the eastern embankment of the peninsula, where a 70-m long pier for
larger vessels was constructed. The port for smaller vessels has a depth
of 4 m. The islet of Tunera, connected by a bank with the coast,
protects the outer port from the influence of the open sea. The port is
protected by a breakwater to the south-west, along which, on the inner
side, larger vessels of the coastal shipping dock. The marina is in the
north-eastern part of the town port. Chief occupation is tourism,
yachting tourism in particular. The tourist complex Padova III with a
campsite is located on the eastern coast of the town port. Situated on
the main road (M29) connecting Rab with the ferry ports in Lopar and Mi
njak.
The ancient name Arba, Arva, Arbia (mentioned by
Ptolemy and Pliny the Elder, and in Tabula Peutingeriana) derives
probably from the Illyrian Arb, meaning dark, green, forested, which is
a chief feature of the island even today. In the 10th century the
emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus calls it Arbe, the form later
taken over by the Italian language. The Croatian name Rab was first
mentioned in 1446, in a document on the establishment of the Franciscan
monastery of St. Euphemia in Kampor. Under the rule of Emperor August
Rab became a Roman municipality. Already in the 5th century Rab was the
seat of the diocese. Croats inhabited Rab some time later than the other
islands because they had to conquer a well-organised local Roman
community. At the beginning of the 11th century Rab fell under the rule
of Venice for a short period, and then joined Croatia. At the time, a
free urban commune was established, a pol-itical form which rendered the
town and the island peace and economic boom till 1409, after which the
almost 400-year long rule of Venice followed. Fragments of the Statues
from the 14th century, containing interesting political, communal and
economic regulations. The diocese was abolished in 1828. Rab started to
recover economically not before the first decades of the 20th century,
when it became a climatic and summer resort.
The old part of the town was fortified (12th-13th c.). The Prince's
Palace (13th c.) stands on the northern side of the Municipium Arba
Square, turned during the Gothic (two windows) and Renaissance (double
window) periods into a massive three-storey building, to which a
two-storey wing (with a beautiful balcony) towards the sea was attached.
The inner court of the palace accommodates a collection of stone
monuments including finds dating from the Roman period to the
Renaissance. Passing through the former Morska Vrata (Sea Gate), one
reaches Plokat, where a granary (fondaco) and loggia - an open
portico with six Renaissance columns were erected in 1509. The
monumental portal of the Crnota Palacefrom the mid-15th century
(decorated by Andrija Alei
and Juraj Dmitrov) is situated in Radi
eva
Street, offering a nice view on the Bay of St. Fumia and the Frkanj
peninsula. At the corner of Radieva
Street and Freedom Square (Trg slobode), a block of houses of the
Galzigna family, of Renaissance morphology, stands. Upper Street (Gornja
ulica) leads along the crest of the peninsula; the church of St.
Andrew, with a monastery of the Benedictine nuns, founded around
1020, is to the right; the church assumed its final form during
Renaissance; the Romanesque bell tower dates from 1181.
A 26-m high bell tower of the cathedral of a Lombardian type (around 1200), covered with a pyramid (15th c.) rises in the middle of a small square. The church of St. Mary the Great, a three-nave Romanesque basilica with three apses, is opposite the bell tower. It was consecrated by Pope Alexander III in 1177. The ciborium above the main altar of the church was erected in the 11th century. Although reconstructed at the end of the 15thcentury, it represents the only in situ preserved example of the pre-Romanesque altar superstructure on the Croatian coast. The choir stalls from 1445 are placed in the sanctuary. The baptismal font and the rustic Pieta in the lunette of the main portal were made by Petar Trogiranin in 1514. The interior of the cathedral gradually assumed a Baroque aspect in the second half of the 18th century; altars were constructed (valuable marble intarsias on the antependium, depicting St. Christopher and the Virgin Mary). The altarpiece in the main apses is attributed to a painter from Rab, Matej Poncun.
The extreme cape of Kladanac accommodates a monastery of Franciscan nuns. The front of the monastery is adorned with a relief representing St. Anthony the Abbot and the year 1541. The only preserved fragment of the original church of St. Anthony the Abbot is the Gothic vault in the sanctuary; the engraved altar (15th c.) is decorated with the painting of St. Anthony.
The church of St. Justa (1573-78) is situated in Upper Street (Gornja ulica); its bell tower dates from the 1672. Today the church hosts an sacral art exhibition, including the portable little altar, donated to the town by King Koloman, fragments of the illuminated evangelistary from the 11th century and the silver-plated reliquary for the head of St. Christopher (beginning of the 13th c.); the polyptych by Paolo Veneziano; a Renaissance terra cotta of the Mother of God with Christ from the 15thcentury; several altar paintings from the 16th to the 18th century.
Not far from the church of St. Justa lies the small church of the Holy Cross from the 16th century, with Baroque stucco work from 1799 (by Clemente and Giacomo Somazzi). The ruins of a monastery, occupied by the Benedictine nuns from the 11th century, and by the Franciscans from 1298 to 1783, are by the church; in 1786 the monastery was converted into the Bishop's Residence (Vescovato), and on the abolition of the diocese in 1828, the monastery was abandoned and exposed to dilapidation. The complex comprises the ruins of the church of St. John the Evangelist only the bell -tower from the 12th century survived (restored in 1933). The Summer Stage, situated within the town walls, is attached to the complex of St. John (the present Archaeological Park).
The passage through the tower of St. Christopher (Galjarda) with a
guard-house leads to Komr
ar
Park, one of the most beautiful parks on the eastern part of the
Adriatic coastline, landscaped in the 1890s, on the total area of 16
hectares, by Juraj Belia (Aleppo pine, Primorje pine and black pine,
holm oak, spruce, cypress). The ruins of a Franciscan monastery from
1491 are found at the north-eastern rim of the park, now the town
cemetery. The church of St. Francis from 1491, a building in the
mixed Gothic and Renaissance style, the tomb of the Spanish painter Juan
Boschetus, who died in 1523, is today a graveyard church.
Middle Street (Srednja ulica) leads from St. Christopher Square to
the Loggia (Lo
a).
At the right corner, near Bobotine, stands a monumental palace called Dominis
(end of the 15th c.), with richly decorated Renaissance portal and
windows (the first floor has a late Gothic window). The birth house of
Markantun de Dominis. - On the opposite side of the street, the small
Baroque church of St. Anton (1675), with a rich marble intarsia on the
antependium and the painting of Our Lady with Child (Venetian
School, 17th c.) is situated. Farther, on the left-hand side, is the Nimira
palace (16th c.), built in the transitional Gothic-Renaissance style
(portal with a coat of arms). The finely ornamented front of the
Galzigna Palace (Renaissance portal, a late Gothic window), opposing the
wing of the Prince's Palace, stands at the beginning of Lower Street
(Donja ulica).
(51280) A:Tourist association: Donja ulica 2
Tourism in the town of Rab has a history of a hundred years. The Komrar
Park in the town, from the end of the 1890s, the public beach and the
almost 100-year-old hotel Imperial in the centre bear witness to the
long tradition in tourist trade. Except in the town proper, the nearby
Kalifronta peninsula, which can be reached by a speedboat or a tourist
taxi boat (provided by the local inhabitants), also offers excellent
bathing opportunities. Due to the favourable climate and the beautiful,
preserved historical scenery, the tourist season commences already in
the early spring, and ceases with the late autumn. Today Rab offers a
variety of accommodation facilities (hotels, bungalows, apartments,
marina), as well as various sports and recreation opportunities (tennis
courts, boccia and bowling alleys, miniature golf, underwater fishing,
water skiing). Numerous restaurants offer local specialities (crabs,
mussels, fish), while summer terraces and night clubs provide
entertainment programs. The luxuriant island vegetation invites for a
walk.
Middle Street offers a special tourist and cultural atmosphere with
its street painters in summer, when the whole centre of the town turns
into a huge gallery, and the Rab Cultural Events in the "Kne
ev
dvor" Gallery represent another important event. The Rab Musical
Evenings, organized in the church of the Holy Cross (June to August),
offer concerts performed by Croatian and international musicians. The
most attractive summer event in Rab is the Rab Tournament (reintroduced
in 1995), which used to take place as early as 1364, commemorating the
defence of the town by the knights in the past. A special attraction of
this picturesque mediaeval ceremony is the ancient crossbow, which is
used at the tournaments only by the arbalists from San Marino. The
tournament takes place twice a year (9th of May and 27th of July).
Accommodation: hotels Carolina (B), Eva (B), Imperial (B), International (B), Istra (b), Padova (B), Riva; bungalows Suha Punta (III); apartments, rooms; campsite III. Padova (II)
Rab ACI Marina has 150 berths in the sea for yachts drawing up to 6 m and up to 18 m in length. The coast can accommodate only yachts in the need of repair.
