Rijeka Things to Do

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The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for centuries referred to as "Vela Crikva" (the Big Church) or Duomo by the locals, is the sacral centre that can rightly be believed to have been erected on th place of worship in the period of early Christianity, originaly established on the site of Roman public thermae, the remains of which around the church have only partly been researched.
The floor of the more representative parts of the thermae were covered in mosaics, preserved under today's pavement of Vele Crikve Square.

The former Jesuit Church, and today cathedral Church of St. Vitus.The Jesuits decided to use the cult of the Miraculous Crucifix from the old church, which, according to the legend, started bleeding when a certain Petar Lonsarik, angered by a gambling loss, threw a stone at it. The construction of the new church started in 1638 according to the design of the Jesuit architect G. Briani.A significant change to the design was brought in 1725, when the constructor B. Martinuzzi added a gallery to the church.St. Vitus’ is a unique Baroque rotunda of such monumental dimensions built in Croatia.

It was built in 1885 as a city theatre, according to the design of the specialised Vienna Helmer and Fellner workshop.The exterior is adorned by figurative compositions of "Music and Drama" by Venetian sculptor Benvenutti. The opening of the theatre was marked by a performance of Verdi's Aida. In a town which, at the time, was not supplied with electric current, the autonomous system of electric supply installed in the theatre by the Vienna Kremenczky company was a real sensation.

Hrvatsko Narodni Kazalista is named forRijeka-born composer Ivan Zajc(1832-1914).It is very similar (same architects) to one in Zagreb and stands at the edge of Kazaliani Park. It has a broad dome over a wide orchestra and 3 levels of boxes and a balcony and a Royal box.. Floral brackets support the 1st and 3rd box level but the 2nd level is enlivened byfull-busomed carytids between the boxes brazenly supporting the upper level on raised folded arms.The opening feature was Verdi's Aida (his latest hit-this was late 19C).A memorial bust of him surrmounts the lobby.The dome displays 6 murals symbolizing types of music, When the original painter was slow in providing the canvases, the architects made the authorities accept a new young Viennese painter Gustave Klimt(1862-1910). This first commission provides Rijeka with thebest paintins in Croatia.We are partial to opera in such a site and would have enjoyed it if we could have worked it out. Maybe you can do it. They have a long season{ in summer too?)

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An elegant palace that was built with the money that the owner got from being an engineer to develop the torpedo. He was one of three that developed the torpedo, and wealth came his way along with Robert Whitehead, an English engineer that improved the speed and accuracy of the self propelled torpedo. The family lived here for about 50 years.

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This modern day structure looks like a stale Communist building; and maybe so since it was built in 1976. It is on the site that was the Governor's Palace gardens. The purpose is to display past and present people, things and special displays of the city. Due to lack of funds, the museum was closed, and we did not pay for the entry fee of $2, and there was literally nothing inside to see. They do not know if, or when the museum may open again.

This museum looked like it was not worth a view inside. From the windows, there are some archaeological items that can be seen, and a lot of the museum is of archived books and study manuals. Not too interesting for me. Entry is $4.

This may provide some perspective of what the location looks like from a map viewpoint. Finding you way down into the old part of the town, which really is the downtown metro area is the hard part. I also found getting around on E65 is not too bad and taking it to the downtown area is better than using the auto highway that then requires you to find a place to drop down to the main part of town.