Weekend getaway in Opatija

Last weekend was the most relaxing weekend of 2017 so far. We spent a few days in Opatija with Marko’s family. It was a vacation full of good food, sun and swimming pool (the sea is too cold for swimming yet). The most of our time was spent out in the sun drinking tea, coffee and eating ice cream. It was a splendid time off. There are few posts from Opatija coming to the blog. This one, the first one will be about Opatija, its history and heritage.

Opatija was a small city southwest of Rijeka on the Adriatic coast until 1844 when Iginio Scarpa, a rich merchant from Rijeka, founded Villa Angiolina which still stands (and you will see it in one of the next posts). The second reason Opatija started to developed into a summer resort was a railway. Good transport connections have helped in the development of tourism. In the 1890s most villas and hotels were built by Friedrich Julius Schüler, the Managing Director of Southern Railways who is responsible for the unique parks and lungomare, a promenade that runs along a seashore.

After the First World War Opatija was assigned to Italy in 1920. The Italian government started a process of forced Italianization and demanded that everybody speaks Italian. Second World War brought change again and in 1947 Opatija was given to Yugoslavia and most of the Italian population went back to Italy. The first casino in Eastern Europe Casino Rosalia was opened in Opatija.

Opatija is a beautiful city with an impact of Austro-Hungarian era. The architecture is amazing. Rich and historic. The whole Opatija is like a little Monaco on the Adriatic coast. The photos in this post were taken in front of Operetta which was an opera house. The building was a shopping mall in in the past few years and today it is waiting to be awoken again.

Ruffle blouse from Zara
Cardigan from Stradivarius
Trousers from H&M
Boots from s.Oliver