The Port

Although the oldest port in Opatija is most probably the small bay (“Portić”) in front of St. Jacob’s church, the current port (“Mul”) must also be pretty old, since it was already entered in a map made in 1820 under the name of “Porto Herdt,” which is the distorted Italian word for the domestic term for promontory or headland “Rt” (“Zert”). In any case, it’s dimensions were already altered by the builder of villa Angiolina, Iginio Scarpa, who wanted to make it suitable for his yacht, and it got its definitive shape during the interventions and expansions executed at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Next to the present-day restaurant Galija (ex Padovan, Jedro) was the one-time customs branch-office, and during the Italians today’s Yachting Club was the canoeist club (Club dei canottieri). From the pier, which has for the townspeople of Opatija on several occasions in history been the scene of important events (the dismay caused by the arrival of the Italian navy in December of 1918, the celebration of the capitulation of Italy in September 1943), one has the best view of the entire “North Strand” (Nordstrand), with its former sanatoriums Schalk, Mahler (Horvat) and Lakatos.