The Town Watchtower

The town watchtower is situated at a small square which was originally named Platea Gospi (the square dedicated to Virgin Mary). It was erected in 1509, at the same time the Municipal Lodge was built, although the watchtower was mentioned for the first time on February 20th,1478, in notarial written documents of Marin Maroman. It can be easily calculated that the town clock has been telling the accurate time in Rab for over 400 years.

The Platea Gospi Square, was the town's main centre throbbing with life. It was an intersection of the main streets, such as Srednja ulica (Middle Street) and the main transverse (side) street with a stairway leading towards the main square of the uptown named the Square of Freedom (Trg slobode), known among the locals as Pjaceta. The watchtower can be reached by sea through the vaulted passage of the town's watchtower ground floor towards the Duke's Palace (Knežev dvor) and the Municipium Arba Square. Adjacent to the Church of St. Nicholas (Sv. Nikola) built in the Late Romanesque period, originally named the Church of the Holy Spirit (Crkva sv. Duha), was the granary used as a marketplace, as well as the Municipal Lodge from the Renaissance period where the commoners used to hold their assemblies and were trials were held until the fall f the Republic of Venice in 1797. The town clock was very useful in synchronising the activities of the increasingly dynamic city life.