Opatija

Opatija (pronounced [ɔpǎtija]; German: Sankt Jakobi; Italian: Abbazia; Hungarian: Abbázia) is a town in western Croatia, just southwest of Rijeka on the Adriatic coast. As of 2011, the town had 11,659 inhabitants in total, of which 6,657 lived in the urban settlement.

Geography

Opatija is situated in the Gulf of Kvarner in a sheltered position at the foot of Učka mountain, with Vojak peak at 1401 m. Opatija is located 90 km from Trieste by rail and 82 km from Pula by road. The city is geographically on the Istrian peninsula, though it is not in Istria County, but Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.

It is a popular summer and winter resort, with average temperatures of 10 °C in winter, and 25 °C in summer. Opatija is surrounded by beautiful woods of bay laurel. The whole sea-coast to the north and south of Opatija is rocky and picturesque, and contains several smaller winter resorts.

History

Opatija was included in the territory of the Liburni, a pre-Roman Illyrian people. In Roman times, the area was home to several patrician villas connected to the nearby town of Castrum Laureana, the modern Lovran.