Rab ( it, Arbe la, Arba) is a town (''grad'') on the island of

Rab Rab �âːb( dlm, Arba, la, Arba, it, Arbe, german: Arbey) is an island in the northern Dalmatia region in Croatia, located just off the northern Croatian coast in the Adriatic Sea. The island is long, has an area of and 9,328 inhabitants (2 ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

. According to the 2011 census the total population of the town was 8,065, whereas only 437 lived in the titular settlement (

naselje The territory of Croatia is divided by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics into small settlements, in Croatian ''naselje'' (singular, pl. ''naselja''). They indicate existing or former human settlement (similar to the United States census designate ...

). Rab, the settlement, is located on a small peninsula on the southwestern side of the island. The town has a long history that dates back to 360 BC when it was inhabited by the

Illyrians The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan populations, a ...

. The island was the frontier between the regions of Liburnia and

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, str ...

. From the third century BC to the sixth century AD Rab was part of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

, and Emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

proclaimed it a

municipium In ancient Rome, the Latin term (pl. ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ("duty holders"), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the priv ...

in 10 BC. It was the first town of Roman

to be given the honorary title "felix". The worst disaster in the town's history was an outbreak of the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

in 1456 that decimated the city's population. There are many churches in the town. The largest is St. Mary the Blessed, which was built in the 13th century. The church of St. Justine is now a museum of sacred arts, while the chapel of St. Christopher (dedicated to the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of the island) is nowadays called the Lapidarium. The four church bell towers became the symbol of the town and island. The oldest dates back to the eleventh century.

Saint Marinus Saint Marinus (; it, San Marino) was an Early Christian and the founder of a chapel and monastery in 301 from whose initial community the state of San Marino later grew. Life Tradition holds that he was a stonemason by trade who came from the ...

, the Christian founder of

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

, was a native of Rab who is said to have fled the island under

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

's persecution in AD 301.

Population

Gallery

2014-12-08 09-34-44 11112.4 Croatia Primorsko-Goranska Gradac Lusare.jpg, View of Rab from air SanMarinoRab.jpg, Statue of San Marino 20140504 Rab town srednja ulica.jpg, Streets of Rab 20140505 Rab Katamaran PAG-RIJEKA.jpg, Old Town 20140505 Rab town harbour Šetalište kapetana Ivana Dominisa.jpg, Ivan Dominis Promenade Rab Hotel Arbiana.jpg, Arbiana Hotel

References

External links

Virtual tour of Rab town with photo gallery

About town Rab history, squares and church towers

Attribution

* ''The original version of this article was taken from the Wikipedia article

.'' {{Authority control Cities and towns in Croatia Populated places in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Rab Populated coastal places in Croatia Illyrian Croatia