Saint Vitus, Rijeka City Day

Who Saint Vitus is to Rijeka

Saint Vitus is the patron of Rijeka, and the cathedral named after him is the reason the city looks the way it does at its centre: a round baroque church, unusual in Croatia, built on the model of Santa Maria della Salute in Venice. The feast on 15 June is the city day, which is why the programme is municipal rather than parochial and spills out of the church into the streets around it.

How the day works

Mass in St Vitus's Cathedral is the religious core of the feast, and it draws a full church, so arrive early if you want a seat. The cathedral stands above the Korzo and you reach it on foot through the passage under the City Tower or across Kobler Square, which is the shortest way up. The rest of the programme is on the Korzo itself: concerts and civic events along the pedestrian street. In 2027 the feast falls on a Tuesday. It is a city holiday, so municipal offices are shut and some shops close, but the rest of Croatia works as usual and buses and trains run to a normal weekday timetable.

Getting to Rijeka

The nearest airport is Rijeka Airport on the island of Krk, about 30 km from the centre across the Krk bridge, with mostly seasonal flights in summer. Zagreb airport has far more connections and is about 2 hours away by motorway. The main bus station is a few minutes' walk from the Korzo, beside the Capuchin church, and buses from Zagreb take a little over 2 hours. The railway station is a 15 minute walk west of the centre, but the train from Zagreb is slow, around 4 hours, so most people use the bus.

By car Rijeka is on the A6 motorway from Zagreb, about 160 km, and on the A7 that continues toward Slovenia and Trieste. Parking in the centre is tight, and the Korzo is pedestrian in any case, so leave the car outside the core. The covered car park at Tower Center in Pećine is free and a town bus runs from there to the Korzo. If you are staying in the town, ask your host about a parking space when you book, since most of the old core has none.

Where to stay

For the feast the centre is the obvious base: anything within 10 minutes' walk of the Korzo puts you at the cathedral and the programme without needing a bus. Rijeka has fewer hotel beds than the resorts around it, and mid June is the start of the season, so book several months ahead. Trsat, on the hill above the Rječina canyon, is quieter and joined to the centre by the 561 steps of the Petar Kružić stairs or a short bus ride. Pećine, east of the centre, has villas from the end of the 19th century, apartments and the Sablićevo beach. Opatija, 15 km west along the coast, has the largest choice of hotels and a frequent bus into Rijeka.

What else to see

Since the offices are shut, treat the day as a walk. The old town behind the City Tower holds the Leaning Tower of 1377, the Roman arch of the Old Gateway and the church of the Assumption, all within a few hundred metres of the cathedral and all free. From the Korzo the Trsat stairs climb to Our Lady of Trsat, the oldest Marian shrine on the northern Adriatic, and to Trsat Castle, where the ramparts look over the whole Kvarner gulf and the island of Krk. Check which museums open on the holiday before you plan around them.

Food, money and weather

The cafe terraces on the Korzo and Kobler Square are where the town sits between events, and they work on the holiday as on any other day. For a meal, the lanes of the old town and the streets toward the market have konobas serving Kvarner fish, scampi and pasta. Croatia uses the euro and cards are accepted almost everywhere, though market stalls and small bars prefer cash. Mid June is warm, usually between 22 and 28 degrees, and the sea is already fine for swimming at Sablićevo or Glavanovo. Bring a hat and water for the Korzo, which has little shade at midday, and cover your shoulders for Mass. Glavanovo beach, with its gradual depth and lifeguards, suits families.