Opatija

Opatija (population 13,000) is the epicenter of the more than 40-kilometerlong Riviera running along the Kvarner Gulf. Protected by the Ucka Range, the whole Riviera has a very favorable climate: cool air streaming down from the mountains reduces the heat of summer and keeps away the cold Alpine air in winter.

In the 11th century, the Benedictine Abbey of Sveti Jakov was founded here, giving the place its name - Abbazia (monastery). The touristic development of Opatija began in 1844, when the Villa Angiolina (today the seat of the resort's administration) was built. The Italian Iginio Scarpa from Rijeka built it as a summer house and named it after his wife. Scarpa had a park built around his villa and sailors from all over the world brought him exotic plants to put there. Ban Josip Jela66, the governor of Croatia, was the first high-ranking visitor to be invited to the villa in 1850. A few years later, the former Austrian emperor Ferdinand and his wife Maria Anna spent the whole summer season in the Villa Angiolina. Nowadays, open-air concerts are regularly held in the villa's park in summer.

It didn't take very long for the Austrian aristocracy to start getting interested in this new spa town. They were followed by the usual entourage. Doctors attested that the air contained an unusually high concentration of aerosol and praised the therapeutic effects of the mild, humid climate. The small fishing village and its abbey soon became a popular winter retreat and spa resort. And so began Opatija's evolution into a health resort for the upper crust .

In 1873, the Wiener Sudbahn (the Vienna Southern Railway Company) extended its Vienna-Trieste line by adding a connection from Pivka and Matulji to Rijeka, bringing more tourists to Opatija. A clever businessman from this company bought the seaside vineyards of a Croatian and, in 1883, built the first hotel here, the Quarnero (Kvarner). It was followed by other noble establishments: Crown Princess Stephanie (today the Imperial) and the Hotel Quississana (today the Opatija). Parks, promenades and beaches followed.

Almost all members of the Austrian imperial family visited Opatija - again and again. Europe's high aristocracy was at home here: Italy's King Umberto, the kings of Serbia, Montenegro and Greece, the Bulgarian czar, the SwedishNorwegian king Oskar II and the German emperor Wilhelm II.

Not only the aristrocracy, but also artists, musicians and writers came, such as the Czech violonist Jan Kubelik, the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler, the Italian tenor Beniamino Gigli, the Hungarian operetta composer Franz Lehar, the French Lumiere brothers, pioneers of film technology, and the father of psychoanalysyis, Sigmund Freud.

All these prominent visitors also spawned a luxurious lifestyle. In 1895, Opatija got electrical power, followed by water mains two years later. In 1898, a film was made here - only three years after the first moving pictures were shot in Paris.

Abbazia soon grew into the "Austrian Nice," until, in 1918, it came under Italian rule and was thus given an additional touch of dolce vita. The Yugoslav takeover in 1947 did nothing to damage the character of Opatija, in fact, the Socialist government was enthusiastic to develop its touristic potential very carefully and unintrnsively. The new hotels were designed in the style of the existing buildings from the turn of the century.

Opatija today has more first class hotels than any other place on the Croatian coast. The tastefully-renovated villas and hotels of the Belle Epoque - all in harmony with each other - reach all the way down to the seaside and truly make up the the charm of the place. Yachtsmen are also attracted here. 

On the famous Lungomare, the twelve-kilometer-long promenade, you can walk along the seafront - passing the marina of Icici and the pebble beach of Ika - all the way to Lovran.

The only little disappointment, perhaps, is the fact that swimming is somewhat limited. Nets placed in the water to divide up the beach areas also serve to prevent swimmers from floating too far out to sea. There have been incidents with sharks reported, which sometimes follow the ships heading for Rijeka.