Valamar Blog

The uniqueness of Rabac and the whole bay area it lies in - who together with its hinterland and the Labin area form an attractive geographical whole - is characterised by a extraordinary mixture of sights and the play of nature’s elements. Such blend has brought about the development of various capacities and attractions as well as the emergence of new tourist values in Rabac.

Today, Rabac is a tourist resort, a well-known holiday destination on the Eastern part of the Istrian coast. Numerous hotels, adapted beaches, tourist attractions can be found here and exactly they make Rabac what it is today. But it wasn’t always like this. Throughout centuries, up to the 19th century, it was a small town with only a few houses, marked by its tameness and inhabitants. The people, mostly fishermen, field laborers who earned they bread hard and lived in harmony with the sea, had to fight the sea and its inpredictable temper.

Before we proceed onto posts on its tourist development and the attractions that Rabac and its surrodundings have to offer, we will have a look at just one, tiny part of its history. It is interesting to look at history from the today’s point of view and see in what way our coast and towns impressed famous travel writers and numerous travellers from other parts of Europe while travelling along the Croatian coast.

In the 19th century the tame and picturesque Rabac and its surroundings made a great impression on the legendary Sir Richard Francis Burton, a British explorer, travel writer and ehtnologist who visited Rabac in 1876. He mentions Rabac in his work “`The Seaboard of Istria” (”Istarska obala”), written one year after his visit to Rabac, together with Albon and Portolung. He writes about the peaceful, picturesque bay with clean air.

Also, his work “The Seaboard” is of great importance to us, and that’s why we will dedicate a separate post to the old travelogue of Richard Francis Burton about Istra.

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