Four bell towers

Awarded many times as the best tourist destination in the Adriatic, the town of Rab sits on a narrow sliver of land protruding towards the mainland, bounded by ancient city walls and recognizable by four church towers that form the familiar outline, depicting Rab as a ship with four masts: bell tower of the church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – the cathedral, the bell tower of the church of St. John the Evangelist (located near the ruins of the Church), the belfry of the church of St. Andrew the Apostle and the bell tower of the church of St. Justine. Further inland from the old town is a beautiful park called Komrčar, whose numerous paths wind around wooded hills all the way down to the beaches of Rab.

Saint Patron of Rab, St. Cristophor supposedly saved the island from attackers, earning the right to have his skull preserved in a reliquiary within the Rab Cathedral.

If you like, you could visit a large collection of sacral art at the Franciscan Monastery of St. Bernardin with two churches (St. Euphemia and St. Bernardin) where you can find pictures, valuable old books, ecclesiastical art, ethnographic collection, coin collection and a lot of other things.

The bell tower of St. Mary, close to the church of St. Mary’s ascension, ex-Cathedral. It is the largest of the four towers, and open to the public but not at all times. It is possible to get by stairs and levels to the very top, and even above the tower bells.

The most beautiful building of its kind on the Croatian coast, this bell tower was built in the Romanesque style sometime in the 13th century. 26 meters high original four-dome was destroyed by a lightning and later reconstructed as a six-sided pyramid.  Tower had it’s top changed due to being struck by lightning and destroyed in 15th century. The new top has eight sides instead of four, and many inscriptions with the names of saints, like St. Barbara, protector from storms. Close to the tower is the Romanesque church of St. Mary’s, the most elaborate and beautiful of the churches on Rab, having a status of cathedral until 1828. Church was canonized in 1175 by pope Alexander III, while on his path from Zadar to Venice. Croatian typical elements like braiding are found on the church as well.

Tower of the church of St. John the Evangelist (Crkva Sv. Ivana Evanđelista). It has been built in Pre-Christian period and renovated but later in 19th century turned to ruins. At the place of the old church you will also find large stone plates with Roman inscriptions beside the original church columns.


Tower by the Church of St. Justina. This church has been closed in 1808 but has very recently been renovated and now has a museum that exhibits sacral art. Ornaments such as the skull of St. Christopher -saint protector of island Rab.

The tower by the Monastery of St. Andreas (Samostan Sv. Andrije). It is the oldest of the four bell towers, being built back in the early 11th century.