Crikvenica

Crikvenica grew from a village around a Pauline monastery into a resort from the 1890s - the first hotel opened in 1891 - and in 1906 it was officially declared a health resort, the idea being that a mild sheltered coast with clean air was itself a treatment, and hotels and sanatoria were built accordingly, some of which still stand. Its beaches are the practical draw: unusually for the Adriatic, several stretches here are genuine sand rather than shingle or rock, which makes it a long-standing family destination. The town sits under the Vinodol hills with the island of Krk directly across the channel, and the promenade runs several kilometres along the shore.

History

Crikvenica stands on the site of a Roman settlement and military post called Ad Turres; a Roman pottery workshop found at Igralište made building materials, amphorae and tableware from the late 1st century BC to the end of the 2nd century AD. The town takes its name from crikva, the local Chakavian word for church - the church of the Pauline monastery built nearby by Nikola IV Frankopan in 1412, in whose grant the name is first written. In 1760 Crikvenica took over from Bribir as the centre of the whole Vinodol coast, and a great fire in 1776 that burnt almost all of hilltop Kotor sped the move down to the shore. Tourism changed the town in the 19th century: a harbour in 1877, a bathing beach in 1888, the first hotel in 1891, the Hotel Therapia with 120 beds and a hydrotherapy institute in 1895, more hotels in 1902, 1903 and 1905, and in 1906 the official title of health resort (Wikipedia, Crikvenica).

The main sights

• An official health resort from 1906 - climate treated as the cure.
• Genuine sand beaches - rare on this coast.
• Hotels and sanatoria of the period - some still in use.
• Krk across the channel - the view from the front.

When to go

June to September. Half a day.

Practical notes

It is a mass family resort in July and August and the sand beaches fill early. Parking on the front is difficult. Much of the building stock is later twentieth century rather than Habsburg. Winter is very quiet.

Nearby

Novi Vinodolski is south; Rijeka and Opatija are north.

Key facts