Lungomare – The Centennial

The exhibition Lungomare – The Centennial, organized by the Croatian Museum of Tourism, was opened at 19:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 29th of 2011 at the Juraj Šporer Art Pavilion in Opatija.

The seaside promenade of Franz Joseph I, widely known as lungomare, is 12 kilometers long in total and extends from Volosko through Opatija, Ika and Ičići all the way to Lovran.

Its construction was initiated by the Austrian Tourist Club (Österreichisches Touristenclub), specifically its Opatija branch (founded in 1885 at the behest of the club’s president Anton Silberhuber) and the Association for the Beautification of the Opatija Health Resort (Verschönerungs – Verein des Curortes Abbazia) and its president Julius Glax. The section of the promenade from Volosko to Slatina was constructed in 1889, the same year that Opatija was declared a health resort, and the south section of the promenade, from Opatija to Lovran, was completed in 1911. For this reason, we mark the centennial of lungomare in 2011.

The name of the promenade was changed several times. During Austro-Hungarian rule, it was called The Friedrich Schüler Seaside Promenade (Friedrich Schüler Strandweg) and the segment from the port to Dražica was called Erzherzog Eugen Promenade. During Italian rule, the promenade was called Lungomare Principe Umberto, Lungomare della Madonna, Via San Giacomo, Lungomare della Redenzione and Lungomare Regina Elena. After World War II it was simply called the Seaside Promenade, but in 1952 it was renamed Matko Laginja Promenade. Finally, in 1996, it was renamed Franz Joseph I Seaside Promenade, the name it still bears today.

The exhibition will remain open until July 10th of 2011.