St John's Ruins

Why it is worth your time

The ruins of St John the Evangelist are the oldest and most touching of Rab's churches: a basilica whose foundations reach into early Christianity, for centuries a monastery church, abandoned and taken apart during the 19th century, of which remain the perimeter walls, the arches of the apse and a bell tower that stands upright to this day as if its church had never left. Precisely that openness makes the place special: light grows through the roofless nave, the sea enters through glassless windows, and imagination returns the columns to their places without effort. The tower is fitted for climbing and gives a view of the roofs, the Great Bell Tower next door and the channel toward Kalifront, with a smaller crowd than on the more famous neighbour.

The ruins lie along the Upper Street, entry is free or for a trifle in season, and the viewing takes some twenty minutes. They are loveliest early in the morning, when low light enters through the apse, and at dusk, when the stone gilds. Together with Kaldanac, the oldest quarter on the point, this is the address where Rab's thirteen centuries are best felt under the fingers.