Remains of St. John's Church, Monastery and Bell Tower, Rab

In the town of Rab, in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, are the remains of the church of St. John the Evangelist and a monastery, with a Romanesque bell tower. For visitors exploring Rab's old core, this is one of the more interesting medieval buildings, with an unusual detail in the altar area.

Originally an early Christian three-aisled basilica stood here. In the 12th century a Benedictine monastery was built beside it, and the church was reshaped in the Romanesque spirit. Because of the shape and width of the apse, it was possible to build an ambulatory around the altar, a deambulatory, the only one in Dalmatian Romanesque architecture. The capitals of the columns that supported the semi-dome of the apse and the vault of the ambulatory have early Romanesque features from the second half of the 12th century, and the floors were decorated with mosaics. South of the sanctuary a bell tower rose in the 12th century. In the 15th century chapels were added, on which Andrija Aleši worked. In the mid-19th century, after a short period when it was the seat of the diocese, the church and monastery were abandoned.

The remains are a protected cultural good, entered in the Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia under the code Z-143.

Data: Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia (Ministry of Culture and Media), Open Licence.