Matteo Scarpa, a direct descendant of Iginio Scarpa, a merchant from Rijeka who 180 years ago brought life to the villa in the Opatija park by naming it Angiolina after his late wife, met today in the eponymous villa with the mayor of Opatija, Fernando Kirigin.

The forty-year-old Matteo Scarpa, who lives in Rome and is eight generations removed from his ancestor Iginio, visited Opatija accompanied by his son, and his host in Opatija was Jan Bernd Urban. The meeting was also attended by Vesna Leiner, acting director of the Croatian Museum of Tourism, and representatives of the Italian Community of Opatija.

During the tour of the villa, the guest from Rome visited the exhibition “Croatian Intangible Cultural Heritage on UNESCO Lists” by the Ethnographic Museum from Zagreb on the first floor, and the acting director of the museum presented ideas for the future permanent exhibition and further development of the museum.