Rijeka, Port city in Kvarner Gulf, Croatia
Rijeka is a port city on the Kvarner Gulf in Croatia, stretching along a narrow coastal strip between steep hills and the Adriatic Sea. The old center clusters around low hills near the water, while newer neighborhoods spread inland where apartment blocks and business districts fill the valleys.
The Roman settlement Tarsatica stood here in the 1st century but was later overshadowed by the nearby fortress that grew into the core of today's city. During the 19th and early 20th centuries it shifted between Austrian, Hungarian, and Italian rule before becoming part of Yugoslavia after World War II and finally Croatia.
The name Rijeka means "river" in Croatian, though residents also called it Fiume when Italian was spoken widely here. Today you hear people mixing Croatian and local dialect as they meet in cafés along the Korzo, the main pedestrian street where families walk in the evening.
The city is easy to explore on foot since most points of interest lie close together in the center, though steep streets lead up to higher neighborhoods. Buses connect outlying areas to the core and run often during peak hours.
Robert Whitehead developed the self-propelled torpedo in the local shipyards in 1866, a weapon that changed naval warfare fundamentally. His workshop stood right by the harbor where engineers and workers spent years refining the design.
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