Opatija

Opatija got its name from an abbey (opatija in Croatian) that was established here in the late Middle Ages by Benedictine monks. Opatija’s history as a tourist destination begins in the 1840’s when a merchant from the nearby city of Rijeka, Iginio Scarpa, built the Villa Angiolina which served as both a family retreat and a venue for high-society gatherings.

Very soon Opatija established itself as a health resort thanks to the favourable climate, and its development was assisted by the construction of a railway linking the town with Opatija and Trieste. Celebrities and nobility flocked to Opatija; Russian tsars, Swedish king, Gustav Mahler, Isadora Duncan, Giacomo Puccini and Anton Chekov among many others.