Chorwacja - Rab Tourism Guide (2008).pdf - PRZEWODNIKI - orfeusz15

GRATIS

Turistička zajednica grada Raba

Rab

Dear Reader,

We hope, in leafing through this

brochure, that you will also want to visit

Rab, this island which, surrounded by

an emerald sea, lies almost at the heart

of Europe. Beautiful beaches, pleasant

walks, superb cuisine and kind hosts are

the sure guarantee that you will enjoy a

pleasant, relaxing and fun holiday.

120 years of tourism

“For days they played host to me on

Rab, with their kindness, openness

wonderful food from the island’s fields,

fish and crabs from the surrounding sea

and strong and full-bodied wine from

their vineyards, and I remained on this

island much longer than my affairs had

required.” So writes Croatian Renaissance

poet, Juraj Baraković of Zadar, in the

prologue of his book about the Rab

shepherdess Draga. This took place at

the turn of the 16th century, but has

remained true to this day. The sea is just

as bountiful, the fields and vineyards just

as fertile, but first and foremost, there are the people of Rab, who take sincere

delight in every guest and receive him as they would a dear friend.

In 1889, Rab’s municipal council declared Rab a tourist destination and health

resort. This was a logical union of the island’s natural riches, mild climate and

welcoming hosts. Not long after this decision by the council, construction began

on the first boarding-houses and hotels, and boats carrying tourists began to

arrive in Rab Harbour. Thus the prediction of Austrian naturalist Camillo Morgan

came to pass. It was he who, admiring the bays of Rab and the colour of the

sea, which “in places becomes a veritable emerald”, foresaw a place for dazzling,

opulent Rab “among the most brilliant pearls in the Illyrian crown”.

Rab has, since time immemorial, offered even more to tourists than just emerald-

green sea, fish, crabs and red wine on the table in a friendly and homely

surrounding. Rab is an island of culture, and has been from Antique times to the

present day. With its beautiful scenery and long, pleasant walks, Rab is an island

which fills the visitor with a kind of quiet, secret happiness. The happy town of

Rab - Felix Arba, the Romans called it, and if anyone knew how to enjoy life

and how to name a town it was they.

Rab does not captivate with glitter, neon lights and grandeur. Rab

seduces, gently whispers its legends to us, sets before us the

contrasts of the sharp stone cliffs on its eastern shore and its gentle,

sandy beaches, its bare hilly massifs and the riches of the woods

of Kalifront. Softly and without great pomp, it reveals its beauties

to us, as though removing from them veil after veil of alienation, hurry,

forgetfulness and stress.

And so it has been for millennia, right up to the present day.

In view of all this, is it not quite natural that Rab constantly receives new tourism

awards, affirming it again and again as one of the best tourist destinations in the

Adriatic? The Croatian National Tourist Board awarded Rab the Plavi cvijet - the

Blue Flower - as the highest quality tourist destination. St. Christopher’s Square

was declared, not so long ago, the most beautiful square, and the “rapska torta”,

an exceptionally tasty cake which has been made on Rab for 800 years, was

pronounced the most original souvenir.

The European Association for Flowers and Landscape, supported by the

European Union, awarded Rab the Silver Flower of Europe award, for its well-

tended parks and woodlands.

FELIX ARBA

Welcome!

Your hosts, Rab Tourist Board.

HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURE

The silhouette of four bell towers, on the high rocky outcropping of the peninsula, is a familiar

image of Rab - an image that has been linked to it for centuries. Apart from minor changes,

the silhouette has now stood fast for two millennia on the outcropping between the Bay of

St Euphemia ( Zaljev Sv. Eufemije ) and a small bay which does not have a name since it has

become the town harbour.

The town of Rab.

The town was originally raised by the Illyrian Liburni tribe, initially as a hill-fort surrounded by

a dry stone wall, The settlement, which was completely surrounded by thick black Holm oak

and Maritime Pine woods, was named Arbe (‘dark’ in the Illyrian language).

From that day to this, the town of Rab has stood as a jewel in the crown of the island, but

also as a centre from which culture, art and education have spread. The numerous churches,

not only in the town itself but all over the island, testify not only to the religious tradition,

but also to civilisational, cultural, artistic and architectural achievement. The monasteries,

churches, palaces, secular buildings, squares, loggia s - secular meeting points - courthouses

and marketplaces of Rab bear witness to a highly developed social environment. It should not

surprise us then that Rab brought forth Marc Antun de Dominis, one of the greatest minds of

16th-century Europe - a theologian, physicist, preacher and church reformer.

When the Romans came to Rab in the second century before Christ, they encountered a well-

developed town. The greatest Roman emperor, Augustus Octavian, had walls and towers

built around the town to make it easier to defend. Even today, the remains of Rab’s walls and

fortifications stand on their foundations. The Romans named the town “happy” - Felix Arba .

This title was used to signify the prosperity, merits and significance of a municipium to Rome.

From the distant Roman rulers, through the rule of Byzantium, Venice and the Hungarian

and Croatian kings, Rab frequently changed its rulers, but the town never suffered any major

destruction. Perhaps the Roman epithet Felix Arba had something to do with that too.

The subtlety of Rab’s path through history is also reflected in its buildings and the simple

distribution of its streets, which are dominated by three parallel, longitudinal streets.

The oldest part of the town, Kaldanac , is very close to the cathedral, with its characteristic

façade built of the two-coloured Rab stone known as breča . In the Cathedral of the

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary ( Katedrala Uznesenja Blažene Djevice Marije ), among

the numerous relics kept, is the head of St. Christopher, the patron saint of Rab. According

to legend, it was thanks to St. Christopher that Rab managed to repel the Norman invasion

in 1075. Thanks to his intercession the Norman arrows, fired from ships around the fortified

town, could not harm the town’s towers and walls. To this very day, on the anniversary of the

saint’s martyrdom, which the Church calls Dies Natalis , on 27th July, Rab’s most important

relic is borne out before believers and carried in procession.

Alongside the cathedral is the main Rab bell tower - an extravagant, 26 metre high Romanic

structure.

The old centre of town also contains the monastery of St. Anthony the Abbot ( Samostan Sv.

Antuna Opata ). Today the monastery is the home of nuns who are known specially for their

handicrafts, among which of special significance are the lace tablecloths made of thread

obtained from the Agave plant.

The oldest Rab bell tower stands alongside the Benedictine monastery of St. Andrew

( Samostan Sv. Andrije ).

The church of St. Justine ( Crkva Sv. Justine ), built by the citizens of Rab themselves, today

houses a religious museum.

The Church of the Holy Cross ( Crkva Sv. Križa ), dating from the 13th century, is also known for

the famous Rab Musical Evenings, held there in summertime for more than 20 years, and was

built on the site of the intriguing remains of the church of St. John the Evangelist ( Crkva Sv.

Ivana Evangelista ).

The Romanic bell tower is the only fully preserved part of that church remaining today, and

the restored columns that form a deambulatory around the altar serve as an open-air stage

for cultural events.

The architectural wealth that the churches lend the old centre of Rab is further reinforced by

the numerous noblemen’s, merchants’ and later civil palaces.

The most striking Renaissance palace is the Dominis Nimira, built in the 15th century.

Together with its opulent Renaissance windows, the façade of the palace is adorned with the

coat-of-arms of the Dominis family, which produced the celebrated Marc Antun de Dominis.

The Knežev dvor (Prince’s Court) palace is dominated by a Gothic Renaissance tower and a

balcony with a Renaissance style balustrade. For a full eight centuries it has served the same

purpose, as a centre of municipal government, a valuable rarity even in Europe.

During its rule over Rab, the Serenissima (Venice) also built an impressive town loggia in

1509, as an open forum in which court proceedings were held, marriages were formalised,

trade was conducted and decisions were taken. Even today, the town loggia performs some

of these functions in the public life of Rab. At the same time as the loggia , the town clock was

built, whose mechanism still shows the correct time to the people of Rab and their guests.

Of special interest is the oldest preserved church on the island, the church of St. Peter ( Sv.

Petra ) in Supetarska Draga, built in 1059. This church is the best preserved Romanic structure

on the east coast of the Adriatic, and its bell tower still houses a bell cast in 1299!

The monastery of St. Euphemia ( Samostan Sv. Eufemije ), built by the Franciscans in the bay

of the same name, is a true jewel. In the monastery’s Charter, we find the first mention of the

Croatian name of the town, Rab. The monastery is a real treasure trove of artistic riches, and

it is the home of the island’s ethnological museum. On a hill above Barbat lie the ruins of the

church of St. Damian ( Crkva Sv. Damjana ) which apart from its religious function also served

a defensive purpose for the fortress. It is also thought that this is the location of a Byzantine

fortress from the sixth century (the time of Emperor Justinian).

The Romans named

the town “happy” - Felix

Arba.

THE TOWN OF RAB

Among the series of beautiful sights that Rab offers us, the town of Rab itself stands out. There

is always something going on on the wide and spacious riva (waterfront), where passenger,

pleasure and fishing boats are moored. It is the town’s main promenade, a place of meetings

and journeys. The riva signifies a space in which to move, a connection with the world. The

town’s palaces and hotels that face it speak of the wealth of Rab, of tourism as the main

economic activity.

It is but a step from the hustle and bustle of the riva , to the security of the narrow town streets.

But they are also separated by a whole philosophy of life. Between those two opposing

points, you can find a wall to lean against, or a terrace where you can refresh yourself and

meet people. And whatever you decide, Rab will maintain its unobtrusive presence, revealing

itself to you and satisfying your desires, as though it were reading your thoughts.

Chorwacja - Rab Tourism Guide (2008).pdf

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