OPATIJA

A small fishing village with a Benedictine Abbey, after which the town was named (abbey=opatija), and the small curch of St.Jacob first mentioned as early as 1449, took only a short time to grow into a well known tourist destination. In 1884 the Kvarner hotel opened its doors, in 1885 came the Kronprinzessin Stephanie (today, the Imperial Hotel) then the Quissiassana (today, the Opatija hotel). Then, the park was designed and the coastal and the forest promenades was built.Renowed for its mild climate, pleasant for a year-round stay, Opatija began its climb towards the top and in 1907, among the 243 health resorts within the Austrian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it was second only to Karlovy Vary, in todays Czech Republic.
Visitors will be delighted by the sumptuous beauty of buildings, by parks providing home to plants from all over the world.
Opatija is indeed a destination for all seasons where, alongside the old, visitors can find new hotels, marinas and congress centres, and a town which builds not only its present but also its future on a rich congress tradition.