Nature – Trlika

Rab Archaeological (T)races

3 educational trails and bike paths

About 30 archaeological localities

The project Rab Archaeological (T)races was developed on the idea of an open-air museum, presenting about 30 archaeological sites in the area of the island of Rab. They are connected by three educational trails spreading on the area of Kampor, Lopar and Supetarska Draga. Follow the traces hidden in the wonderful landscapes with the help of informational and educational panels and the interactive mobile application to learn about the cultural treasures of the island.

EPARIO TRAIL
10 km 179 m 3 h

Epario trail spreads along the coast of Lopar and is suitable for recreationists and families with children. Alongside numerous archaeological sites that indicate this area having been intensely used in the past, especially in prehistoric times and the Antiquity, the trail reveals breath-taking geologic structures.

CAPO FRONTE TRAIL
22,5 km 363 m 6 h

Capo fronte trail spreads along the most forested area on the island – Dundo, a special reserve of forest vegetation, and Kalifront peninsula covered in oak forest. Besides remains of medieval churches, dry-stone walls, lime kilns, bauxite quarries, and other sites indicating the area having been extensively used in the past, this area stands out for the most well-preserved oak forest in the Mediterranean…

FRUX TRAIL
6,5 km 122 m 2,5 h

Frux trail connects Lopar and Supetarska Draga both ways and is suitable for hikers and MTB cyclists. It is a part of a path known as Premužić’s trail, a masterpiece of dry-stone wall building…

Naturism on Rab

Austrian naturalist Camillo Morgan visited Rab in 1889, 1904 and 1909 and writes, “…the sea in ten or so beautiful bays has a special colour which becomes an emerald-green colour. If the coasts of Italy and France deserve the name Côte d’Azur then this should be called the Côte d’Emerald.”

The island of Rab is rightly referred to as the pioneer of naturism on the Adriatic. The month of August 1936 is frequently mentioned as the official beginning of naturism in Rab, i.e. when the English king Edward VIII stayed there and the Rab authorities allowed him and his wife to take a nude swim in the bay of Kandarola. However it is certain that naturism on the island started long before that. The article “Trade in nakedness”, published in the Austrian economic journal “Trend” no. 11/83 reports that the naturist beach in Rab was officially opened as early as at the transition to this century and that 50 beds in the hotels were reserved for naturists.

The same article mentions that the first naturist beach in Rab was opened personally by Richard Ehrman, the president of the International Naturist Federation from Vienna in 1934. Naturism in Rab is also mentioned in the article of the Czech Josef Herman, in 1907 and of professor Günther in 1912, which proves that the Rab people had understood long ago the bright prospects of this movement which, at that time, was a very bold attitude. The possibility to swim without clothes attracts for a lot of tourists, so that many of them choose to spend their holidays in Rab. While nudists used to be very rare earlier, there are thousands of them nowadays.

King Edward VIII (1894 – 1972) and Wallis Simpson (1896 – 1986) on the island of Rab, during a holiday cruise on the Dalmatian coast, August 1936.

Dundo Forest

Category of protection: Special forest vegetation reserve
Year proclaimed: 1949
Area: 101 ha
Location: Town of Rab (island of Rab)
Altitude: 0 – 80 m

The Dundo Forest can be listed among the most beautiful and well-preserved holm-oak forests of the Mediterranean. This area has probably the longest tradition in the protection and conservation of forests among the most deforested islands of the Adriatic. We hope this special reserve of forest vegetation will continue to be a site of study for many future generations of foresters and natural scientists, and a site where nature lovers can come to enjoy the primordial world of Mediterranean forests.

Flora:
– holm oak / hrast crnika (Quercus ilex),
– manna ash or South European flowering ash / crni jasen (Fraxinus ornus),
– green olive tree or mock privet / zelenika (Phillyrea latifolia),
– tree heath / veliki vrijes (Erica arborea),
– mastic tree / tršlja (Pistacia lentiscus),
– strawberry tree / planika (Arbutus unedo),
.- common myrtle / mirta (Myrtus communis),
– laurustinus / lemprika (Viburnum tinus),
– spring sowbread / primorska ciklama (Cyclamen repandum),
– mediterranean smilax / povijuše – tetivika (Smilax aspera),
– rambling or evergreen Rose / vazdazelena ruža (Rosa sempervirens),
– wild asparagus / šparuga (Asparagus acutifolius)
– black bryony / bljušt (Tamus communis).

Fauna:
– the little owl / ćuk (Athene noctua),
– yellow-necked field mouse / šumski miš (Apodemus flavicollis)
…

The most common mushrooms are:
– jack-o’-lantern mushroom / zavodnica (Omphalotus olearius),
– Chanterelle mushroom/ lisičica (Cantharellus cibarius var.),
– krasnice i mliječnice (Russulaceae),
– boletus/ vrganjevke (Boletaceae).

Kalifront Peninsula

It is located in the northwest of the island. Kalifront Peninsula is characterized by karst relief and coastline with many beautiful large and small bays. The length of the peninsula is 9 km. The width of the bay is 3 km.
The forests of the peninsula Kalifront are ideal for relaxing hiking. Hilly areas and trails are not strenuous, so the elderly can enjoy too. Kalifront Peninsula is famous for its holm oak that stands out in a beautiful forest Dundo. Dundo is one of the few surviving forests in the Mediterranean and the most important forest on the island of Rab. Holm oak (Quercus ilex) is an evergreen oak that can reach the age of a thousand years. A few impressive specimens are preserved in the forest.

Another green wonder of the island is Komrčar park, planted and designed by a forester Pravdoje Belija in 1883.