Rijeka (other Croatian dialects: Reka or Rika, Slovene: Reka, Italian and Hungarian Fiume, German: Sankt Veit am Flaum or Pflaum(both historical) ) is the city and the principal seaport of Croatia, located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea. It has 144,043 (2001) inhabitants[citation needed]. The majority of its citizens, 80.39% (2001 census), are Croats. The Croatian and the Italian version of the city’s name mean river in each of the two languages.
Rijeka is the center of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in Croatia. The city’s economy largely depends on sea transport, shipbuilding (shipyards “3. Maj” and “Viktor Lenac”) and maritime transport.
Rijeka hosts the Croatian National Theatre “Ivan pl. Zajc”, first built in 1765, as well as the University of Rijeka, founded in 1973 but with roots dating back to 1632.
Transport
Port of Rijeka was rush-built by Austro-Hungary in World War I and was completed in 1918, just before the collapse of the Dual Monarchy. The cost was more than 800.000 Kronen.
Rijeka is the largest port in Croatia. According to the Rijeka Port Authority, its total throughput cargo in 2007 was more than 13 million tons and is rapidly increasing.
Rijeka has efficient road connections to other parts of Croatia and neighbouring countries. The A6 highway runs between Rijeka and Zagreb, Croatia; a shorter stretch connecting Rijeka with the Slovenian border, part of the A7 highway, was completed in 2004. Rijeka gains access to the B8/B9 Istrian Yexpressway network by means of the Učka Tunnel, which currently has only one lane of traffic in each direction. An intricate series of high-capacity bypass and connection roads is currently under construction. The eastern half of this project was due to open on 15 July 2006, and the more complex western half is to open 2 years later.
The city is difficult to get to by air; it has its own international airport, but it is located on the nearby island of Krk with a toll bridge in-between. Handling only 130,000 passengers in 2005, and projected to handle only 250,000 by 2008, the facility is more of a charter airport than a serious transport hub, although various scheduled airlines have begun to serve it.
Rijeka is well integrated into the Croatian railway network and critical international rail lines. A fully-electrified line connects Rijeka with Zagreb and beyond towards Koprivnica and the Hungarian border as part of the pan-European Vb corridor. Rijeka is also connected to Trieste and Ljubljana by a separate electrified stretch that extends northwards from the city. A transport bill, to have been passed by the Croatian Parliament in July 2006, was to see the start of construction along the aforementioned 5b corridor of Croatia’s first high-speed rail line, making possible speeds nearing 250 km/h (160 mph). Construction on the new line was to start in 2007 and is slated to be completed by 2013. Higher speeds on this line will mean a trip from Rijeka to Zagreb will take about an hour, as opposed to the current three or four hours. Rijeka is well connected by direct train daily train to Vienna, to Munich in Germany or Salzburg in Austria, and there are direct night trains running to Rijeka from these two cities.
Good ferry connections with the surrounding islands and cities within Croatia exist in Rijeka, but no direct foreign connections. There are twice-weekly coastal routes to Split, and onwards to Dubrovnik which has international connections. Pula offers more direct southward connections from northwestern Croatia.
If you come from Trieste or Ljubljana…
Descending from Matulji towards the city you can see the whole Kvarner Bay, with the mountain Ućka at the foot of which is situated Opatija, and islands Krk and Cres. You are partly driving on the former racing track on which the motor races for the “Great Adriatic Prize” were driven before “Grobnik Track” was constructed. With the straight road that follows the coast you arrive at the swimming pool of the “Swimming Club Primorje” next to which is the football stadium “Kantrida” where the “Football Club Rijeka” plays its matches. The stadium is very interesting because was erected on the spot of excavation made for the constructing of the city port. Then, driving alongside the industrial units you can see the shipyard “3. maj” which developed from the shipyard “Ganz – Danubiuz”, then you pass near large petroleum refinery, the skyscraper of “Novi list”, well known daily newspaper, the town park in Mlaka after which follows the hospital complex. The central of the complex is the former Maritime Military Academy, the institution where the Austrian and Hungarian officers were educated from 1866 till 1918. Then you arrive at the railway station and here, you are in the centre of the city of Rijeka.
If you come from Split…
Passing the fascinating the Bay of Bakar you come to big petroleum refinery in Urinj. Then, you drive through the kilometres long seaside resort Kostrena and you come to the very successful ship-repairing yard “Viktor Lenac” the largest in Mediterranean and you are at Pećine. At the very entrance of the city stands a small stone monument, the gift from the Japanese city Kawasaki. In the residential part of Pećine are situated old villas, beaches and hotel “Jadran”. Here are also the houses where the two eminent writers were born. They are Odon von Horvath and Janko Polić Kamov. The first fascinated Europe with his dramas, while the second, Janko Polić Kamov, only now days has gained deserved recognition as Kafka before Kafka and Joyce before Joyce. Passing beside “Pyramid”, former milestone you come to “Croatian Cultural Home” and the hotel “Neboder”, once the highest building in the state.
If you come from Zagreb…
Driving through Grobničko polje you come to the plane where Mongols and Turks were passing in their ruthless attacks. Today here is the racing track that was taken into consideration for the competition in the racing of Formula 1. Through the canyon of the river Rječina and underneath the castle of Trsat you descend by the market route of the road Luiziana, named after the daughter of the Austrian emperor and the second wife of Napoleon Marie Louise and you come to Sušak, the eastern part of the city. Beyond you are the former “Paper factory” and on the other bank of the river of Rječina, water – spring Zvir, which never drains and recently got the cupola covering.
If you come from the sea…
It is really fascinating experience to come in Rijeka by the sea because it is the only way to understand its elongation and soft placed position alongside the coast. Sailing around almost two kilometres along breakwater, where once was secession bathing place, you enter the port basin built according the ground plans of the French architect Pascal who designed the ports of Marseille and Trieste. After several rises and falls today the port of Rijeka looks almost idyllic with lots of sailing and fishing boats which start from here their cruises in Adriatic. The city façade toward the port consists of several palaces: “Adria” (“Jadrolinija”), the palace Zmajić the former hotel “Europe” and today the building with the municipal offices, the palace “Croatia line” once the world’s biggest shipping companies headquarters, then the reticular façade of the department store “Rijeka” and the secession building of Transadria, once the biggest forwarding agencies in the state.
TOURIST ROUTE
1. Municipal Palace – Stendarac -the city flagpole – Church of St. Jerome
2. University Library (permanent exhibition of the Glagolitic script) – Museum of Modern Art Rijeka – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art
3. Governor’s Palace – Maritime and Historical Museum of the Croatian Littoral
4. City Museum
5. Natural History Museum
6. Palace of Justice
7. St.Vitus’ Church – Calvary – Kozala
8. St.Sebastian’s Church
9. Ruins of the late-antiquity castrum
10. Old Gateway “The Roman Arch”
11. Palazzo Comunale – oldest Town Hall in Rijeka
12. Church of the Assumption and the Leaning Tower , The centre of Sušak – Trsat
15. Croatian National Theatre “Ivan pl. Zajc”
14. Main Market
13. “Modello” Palace
16. Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas
17. City Tower
For sightseeing with official guide call
Udruga turističkih vodiča Kvarnera
Užarska 11, Rijeka
Mob:+385 (0)91 501 9319
Mob:+385 (0)98 1994858
e-mail: info@vodici-kvarnera.hr
URL: http://vodici-kvarnera.hr
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astronomical center |
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