Mediterrana

Rabac, Istria, Croatia

RABAC is a town, port and tourist centre on the south-eastern coast of Istria, 5 km southeast of Labin. It is situated before the Big Straits (Velika Vrata), the main access to the Rijeka Bay and opposite the island of Cres. The bay of the same name is the lower, submerged part of the depression through which a stream from the flysh Podlabin runs.

By the middle of the 19th century Rabac was a small fishermen village with hardly ten houses. Due to the beautiful bay and splendid, tame surroundings, it soon attracted first visitors. In 1876, Richard Francis Burton, an English writer and a passionate traveler, was among the first tourists who stayed in Rabac. Having seen Rabac and other places on the Istrian coast, he wrote a book of the same title 'The Istrian coast', describing, among other things, the beauties and charm of Rabac.

The port of Rabac can serve as a shelter for larger vessels; exposed to south- easterly and south-westerly winds. The bora is moderate. The sediments carried by the Rabac stream mud the water in the north-western part of the port. The depth at the head of the pier is around 4.5 m, and along the embankment 3 to 3.5 m.

The chapel of St. Andrew is a building of a simple rectangular ground-plan and has the Gothic portal and windows. The chapel has a Gothic statue of St. Andrew from the first half of the 15th century (now in the Porec Diocese).