Opatija | |||||
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Town | |||||
Opatija
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Location of Opatija within Croatia | |||||
Coordinates: 45°20′N 14°18′E / 45.333°N 14.300°E | |||||
Country | Croatia | ||||
County | Primorje-Gorski Kotar | ||||
Government | |||||
• Mayor | Ivo Dujmić (2009-) | ||||
Elevation | 0 m (0 ft) | ||||
Population (2011) | |||||
• Town | 11,659 | ||||
• Urban | 6,657 | ||||
Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||||
• Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||||
Postal code | 51 410 | ||||
Area code(s) | 051 | ||||
Website | opatija.hr |
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[update], the town had 11,659 inhabitants in total, of which 6,657 lived in the urban settlement.
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.
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.
In the Middle Ages the current town's territory was divided between Veprinac (now a locality of Opatija, perhaps home to a small fishing port) and Kastav, where the fisherman village of Veprinac. The Benedictine Abbey of St. Jacob was mentioned for the first time in 1453, and around it a small hamlet developed during the centuries.