In the resort town of Opatija, a famous coastal resort in Istria, western Croatia

 “Vicinity to the sea is desirable, because it is easier to do nothing by the sea than anywhere else." ― E.F. Benson

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(in western Croatia) The resort town of Opatija, a famous coastal resort in Istria, is located at the head of the Kvarner, a gulf of the Adriatic Sea along the eastern side of the Istrian peninsula. The town’s name derives from the old Benedictine opatija (“abbey”) of San Giacomo al Palo, situated in the in Park Svetog Jakova (or Saint Jacob's Park). Besides remains of medieval walls and the town gate, there are striking villas built by Austrian and Hungarian nobility in the 19th century.

+ A part of Austria-Hungary before World War I, Opatija was ceded to Italy in 1919 and to Yugoslavia after World War II. The Opatija Riviera developed as a tourist and vacation center in the latter half of the 19th century, stimulated by the rail line between Trieste (in Italy) and Rijeka in 1873; the resort still draws great numbers of tourists every year.

+ The town of Opatija was first "discovered" by Iginio Scarpa, a merchant from Rijeka, who built Villa Angiolina in the center of Opatija in 1844, which was the beginning of Opatija tourism. The first hotel in Opatija was hotel Quarnero, now known as hotel Kvarner. It was built by the director of the Austrian Southern Railway Company, which also built the famous coastal promenade Lungo Mare, connecting Volosko to Lovran. In 1887, Heinrich von Littrow established the "Union Yacht Club Quarnero" in Opatija -- the first sailing club on the Adriatic coast.

+ Opatija was officially declared a climatic health resort in 1889, when it offered numerous sanatoriums and promenades where people could relax and enjoy themselves. This launched Opatija to the upscale range of European health resorts -- along with cities like Nice and Cannes. Opatija soon became a popular sanctuary because of its mild climate and great location by the sea, at the center of Kvarner Bay. Many famous people began to visit Opatija on a regular basis: emperors Franz Joseph and William II, the ballet dancer Isadora Duncan, Queen Elizabeth of Romania, the Empress Sissi, the writers A. P. Chekhov and James Joyce -- to name but a few.

+ In recent decades, some excellent restaurants have sprung up to cater to visitors' increasingly selective tastes, with a particularly good cluster in pretty Volosko, just up the road from Opatija -- which sprawls along the coast between forested hills and the sparkling Adriatic (and the whole waterfront is connected by a promenade).

+ Opatija is also known for the Maiden with the Seagull, a statue by Zvonko Car (shown here), which is positioned on a promontory by the Juraj Šporer art pavilion. (It has become one of symbols of Opatija.) Angiolina, the town's park, contains many species of plants from all over the world. Close-by, vis-a-vis Hotel Imperial, stands the statue The Fountain -- Helios and Selena, a work of the Austrian sculptor Hans Rathautsky from 1889.