| OPATIJA |
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| Opatija is a town in western Croatia, just southwest of Rijeka on the Adriatic coast, population 7,850 (2001), total municipality population 12,719 (2001). |
| It is a popular summer and winter resort, with average temperatures of 10°C in winter, and 25°C in summer. Opatija is surrounded by beautiful woods of bay laurel. The whole sea-coast to the north and south of Opatija is rocky and picturesque, and contains several smaller winter resorts. |
| The city's most prestigious sight is the Villa Angiolina, which was built in 1844 by Iginio Scarpa, a rich merchant from Rijeka. This villa, transformed into a hotel, gave a boost to tourism to this town. It became a fashionable destination for the Austrian imperial family and Austrian nobility. Soon more luxury hotels and villas were built, such as the Hotel Kvarner, built in 1884. A new railway line was extended to Rijeka, from where one could go by tram to Opatija . The Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I used to spend here several months during winter. Many of these late 19th-century luxury hotels and villas have survived to present times. |
| Opatija is known for the Maiden with the seagull, a statue by Zvonko Car (1956), which is positioned on a promontory by the Juraj Šporer art pavilion. It has turned into one of symbols of Opatija . A gilded variant of the statue Madonna, that once stood here but was demolished by communists after the end of WWII, now stands in front of the Saint Jacob Church. |
| The town park Angiolina contains many species of plants from all over the world. It has been protected since 1968. Close-by, vis-a-vis Hotel Imperial, stands the statue The Fountain - Helios and Selena, a work of the Austrian sculptor Hans Rathautsky from 1889. There is a 12 km-long promenade along the entire riviera, the Lungomare from Volosko, via Opatija , to Lovran. |
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