|
| |
|
| |
|
| At the picturesque foot of Mount Učka, the sea
plays with a sea shell – Saint Jacob's hood
– in which Aphrodite born of the sea
foam arrived. That is where the Benedictines as
early as the 21th century built their Abbey –
the monastery with the church of Saint
Jacob. The inscription on the lintel
dates back to 1506 and the slab is from the year
of 1793, both being records testifying to the
annexes enlarging the church, while the precious
statue Saint Jacob – the patron saint of Opatija
– with the hat ornamented with sea shells, symbol
of pilgrims in the Middle Ages. |
|
|
| |
|
 |
| In the flourishing vegetation along the sea
shore, near Saint Jacob' church, Iginio Scarpa,
a merchant and patrician of Rijeka, built a villa
in 1844 suraunded by a flower garden and park.
He named it Villa Angiolina in
honour of his wife. The hospitable marreid couple
opened wide the doors of their summer house. The
first «real» tourists began coming to St. Jacob's
Abbey. This marked the begining of Opatija's tourist
development. |
|
|
| |
|
 |
Friedrich
Julius Schüler
Following the opening of the Vienna- Rijeka railway
line, the sharehoders of the Southern Railways,
headed by director J. Schuller, purchased Villa
Angiolina and the land parcels around it. This
became the building site of Opatija's first hotel
– Kvarner . The traditional Opatija Festival held
in the Crystal Ballroom of Hotel Kvarner is one
of the oldest musical manifestations in Croatia. |
|
|
| |
|
 |
The Fountain "Helios
and Selenas"
The fountatin in the park near the church of Saint
Jacob has been builded in the year 1889. by Hans
Rathausky. |
|
|
| |
|
 |
The Evangelist Church
The evangelist church in Opatija was designed
by the Austrian architect Carl Seidl, while the
Swedish-Norwegian King Oscar II and his wife Sophia
contributed financially to its building. |
|
|
| |
|
 |
Madonna
Opatija's sea, its parks, promenades, beaches,
hotel rooms and villas, like the Villa Madonna,
keep the secrets of many romantic love stories,
from the Viennese Court to those of the common
folk. In memory of a young couple who lost their
lives at sea durin a storm, a Madonna sculpture
was erected on a promontory. Later it was repleced
by the statue of a girl with a sea gull, one of
the recognizable tourist symbols of Opatija. |
|
|
| |
|
 |
Maid with the sea-gull
Maid with the sea-gull - work of the sculptor
Zvonko Car, placed near the sea in 1956. It is
one of the symbols of Opatija. |
|
|
| |
|
 |
Church
of St George
It was built in the 12th century in Romanesque,
and rebuilt in the 15th century, when the chancel
was embellished with valuable Gothic frescoes
by local painters. The bell tower, initially detached,
was linked with the church in the 17th century,
when the latter was extended by two Baroque side
chapels being built on. The interior of the church
is enhanced by carved altars and a font. It also
has a valuable treasury of ecclesiastical vessels.
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
CHURCH OF THE ANNUNCIATION
As early as 1906 the bishop of Trieste, Franjo
Nagl, laid the foundation-stone for the neo-Romanesque
edifice with its pronounced green cupola that
can be seen from afar, but once again the departure
of Austria postponed the completion of the building
thet was designed by architect Karl Seidl. During
the war itself, the barely covered construction
served as a shelter for mules, and on one occasion
the entire roof caved in. The construction was
completed in 1927. |
|
|
| |
|
 |
CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY
The oldest church of the Riviera is the church
of the Holy Trinity in Lovran from the 13th century,
followed by many rural and town edifices built
in Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, classicist and
historical styles. There are an unique example
of medieval murals colled Istrian frescoes. |
|
|
| |
|
 |
The church of Saint
Bartol
The church of Saint Bartol has been builded in
the year 1628. |
|
|
| |
|
 |
Ivan Matetić Ronjgov
Another wreched soul born in 1880 in the village
of Ronjgi near Kastav. Living his entire life
on the verge of poverty, Ronjgov taught singing
on the top floor of today's Vocational School
and brought up generations of Opatijans in his
uncompromising publistics and Pan-Slavic style.
He also composed music, collected the musical
heritage of Istria and Kvarner, and he also described
the so-called Istrian musical scale with its characteristic
semitones. |
|
|
| |
|
 |
Drago Gervais
Descendant of a French soldier who came here during
Napoleon's occupation, Drago Gervais still remains
the greatest name that the literature of all of
Liburnia has to offer. Gervais left Opatija a
collection of poems in the Chakavian dialect,
several dramas and short stories and - more or
less, that would be all. However, whole generations
were brought up on this handful of simple stuctured
verse and consequentially created a long line
of less successful epigons. |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Leave
your critics, compliments, comments.... |
| |
|
|
|
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
