Rab Archaeological Traces project included in ECC 2020

In this way, the island of Rab joined the project Rijeka 2020, the European Capital of Culture. The unique project connects heritage, sports and education and promotes the benefits of being in nature. Recreationalists, athletes, whole families are already discovering some of the most beautiful parts of the island of Rab and the hidden richness of cultural heritage.

The town of Rab and the municipality of Lopar have marked sites on three trails that reveal sights from prehistory to the 20th century. Remains of prehistoric settlements, forts, cemeteries, then early Christian, medieval churches, but also a valuable legacy of folk architecture. The Rab Archaeological Traces project connects lesser-known points of cultural heritage and preserved island nature. 33 locations have been marked, connecting three itineraries with a total length of about 40 kilometers.

Clear signposts lead visitors from locality to locality and with complete information on info-boards each of them is described and placed in its historical time and context of life. Guides and a map have been printed, and an interactive mobile application is being prepared for a complete experience of the hidden heritage on the island of happiness, which enables group and individual tours.

At the same time, the visitor will understand why the island in the ancient past was called Arba – it means green, wooded.

With cycling and walking, it provides an experience of about 30 archeological sites presented through the Rab Archaeological Traces project. The values of the archaeological, sacral and ethnographic heritage of the island in the area of the Lopar peninsula, the Kalifront peninsula and the area of drywall construction near the town of Supetarska Draga are presented. The remains of the church of St. Margaret from the 15th century and the azure sea - a surprise at the end of the forest slope. Along with the remains of medieval churches, dry stone walls, limestone, this part of Rab has one of the best preserved holm oak forests in the Mediterranean. If you are lucky, you can also meet some mouflon or deer. The trails also pass through some protected areas of the landscape, such as the Dundo special forest vegetation reserve, known for the best-preserved holm oak forest in the Mediterranean, the significant landscape and the Lopar geological garden with impressive sand dunes. Among them are dry stone walls on one of the branches of Premužić's path - a masterpiece of dry stone construction.

The program direction of 27 neighborhoods and Lungomare Art, with which the ECC project is spreading to the entire Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, was a successful experiment in connecting local communities with partners in Europe. In that way, knowledge about the values of local communities is gained, heritage is additionally valued and a new tourist product is obtained.

With this project, the island of Rab actually got an open-air museum, a museum of the present and the future that has great tourist potential.