Prince's Palace

Why it is worth your time

The Prince's Palace guarded Rab's worldly power for centuries as the bell towers guarded the spiritual: the palace of the Venetian rectors on the main square by the harbour, built and rebuilt from Gothic to Renaissance, with battlements on top, biforas on the front and the rectors' coats of arms cut into the stone like signatures of administrations gone by. From here the island was governed since the Middle Ages, and the building has not lost its administrative reflex to this day: in and around it sit the town's services, so the palace is viewed from outside and from the courtyard, while the interior opens occasionally, for exhibitions and events.

Its finest part is precisely the context: Municipium Arba square, whose name keeps the town's Roman name, with cafés under parasols, the waterfront across and the bustle of boats. Sit with a coffee opposite the front and read the facade like a document: a Gothic window here, a Renaissance portal there, a built-in Roman fragment somewhere between. The palace is the natural first station of a tour: from the square one enters the three parallel streets, so wherever you set off, you begin correctly.