Rijeka
Third biggest town in Croatia (167,964 inhabitants) and the largest port. It is also the university town, with rich and interesting cultural history and naval tradition. It is also tourist and traffic center. Rijeka is situated at the end of well sheltered Rijeka Bay, at the mouth of the short river Rječica. It is well connected with inland by railroad and roads through Postojnska and Delnička Vrata (mountain passes). The airport in on the island of Krk (in Omišalj, 32 kilometers from Rijeka).
In Roman times, the fort and settlement Tharsaticum was located in the area of Rijeka, on the route of the great Roman defense wall, so-called, the Liburnian limes. The town is first mentioned in historical sources under the name Rijeka in the 13th century. It develops more intensively since the 18th century, and the construction of the road (in 1810, to Karlovac), port, and especially the railroad to Zagreb and Ljubljana (i.e. to Budapest and Vienna) in 1873, significantly contributed to the rapid development. In its past, Rijeka often changed rulers, who left their different influences visible in cultural and historical monuments that are still preserved. The church of the Assumption from the 13th century is still preserved with valuable Gothic vessels from the 15th century. The Romanesque belfry from 1377 was finished in the Flower Gothic style. Only the cloister, the church of St. Jerolim, and two Gothic chapels remained of the monastery complex of St. Augustine monks, from the 15th century. The city tower is probably from the 13th century. The biggest building is the baroque church of St. Vid, built from 1638 to 1742, that is present cathedral with ornamented portal and dome. Many representative buildings were built at the end of the 19th century: theater, Nautical Academy, governor's palace, capuchin church, etc.
The settlement Sušak developed separately on the left side of Rječina. It developed below 135 meters high Trsat, the fortified town of the Croatian princes Frankopans. That medieval fortified town from the 13th century was reconstructed in the 17th century, and in 1826 it was restored. Today, there is a restaurant and the summer stage. There is also a unique view from Trsat on the whol Kvarner bay. Under the hill is the
Romanesque church of St. Juraj from the 13th century (restored in the 19th century), and the Franciscan monastery with a valuable inventory (the painting of St. Mary donated by the Pope Urban V in 1367). There are also the tombs of the Frankopan family and the grave of Petar Kružić, the defender of Klis in 1537, who had built the famous Trsat Stairs (561 stairs), that lead from Rijeka to Trsat. Even today, Trsat is a place of pilgrimage where pilgrims come to see the miraculous painting of St. Mary of Trsat.
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