The Korzo is the nineteenth century. The old town starts behind it, through the passage under the City Tower, and holds Rijeka's oldest building, its oldest dated inscription and the only round baroque church in Croatia. A short route with steps, mostly in shade, with no tickets.
Checked: 4 September 2026
Most visitors to Rijeka walk the Korzo and think they have seen the old town. They have not: the Korzo is a broad nineteenth century axis, laid out when the city became the main port of the Hungarian half of the monarchy. The real old town lies behind and above it, in narrow streets reached through the passage under the City Tower. There, within a few hundred metres, four layers stack up: Roman Tarsatica, the medieval core, the Habsburg free port and the Hungarian period. The walk takes about an hour.
- 0:00The City Tower, the way in
The only surviving part of the medieval city entrance: through its passage you stepped from the waterfront into the walled core. The baroque upper section with clock and onion dome was added in the eighteenth century. The facade carries the Habsburg double eagle and below it relief busts of the emperors Leopold I and Charles VI, who granted Rijeka free port rights and so began its maritime rise.
- 0:10Kobler Square and the Roman floor under glass
A small paved space that has been the city's meeting place and market since the middle ages. It is named after Giovanni Kobler, a nineteenth century historian of Rijeka who wrote the first full history of the city and preserved the record of buildings later demolished. Beneath the level of the square, remains of Roman Tarsatica were found, partly visible through glass panels in the paving. The square is in shade for most of the day.
- 0:20The Old Gateway, the oldest building in the city
A stone arch of the third or fourth century, the entrance to the praetorium of the Roman military fort of Tarsatica, part of the defensive system that secured the approach to Italy across the Kvarner. The arch is plain and undecorated, built of large blocks, and is visible to its original height because the street level has barely changed. Excavations around it show the plan of the praetorium and the baths. It stands in a narrow lane, freely accessible at any hour.
- 0:30The Leaning Tower and the 1377 inscription
The bell tower of the Church of the Assumption leans visibly to the south, about forty centimetres out of plumb. Above the doorway the year 1377 is carved, the oldest dated inscription on any building in Rijeka, and the upper part with its octagonal storey was added in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The lean is put down to the ground settling, since the subsoil here is fill and older rubble, including remains of Tarsatica. It is best seen from the small square in front of the church.
- 0:40St Vitus, the only round one
The only round baroque church in Croatia, its plan modelled on Santa Maria della Salute in Venice. The Jesuits began building in 1638 on the site of a small gothic church, and for lack of money the work dragged on for over a century. Inside stands a thirteenth century gothic crucifix, to which the legend of Petar Lončarić attaches: in 1296 he threw a stone at the cross in anger, whereupon the crucifix bled and the earth swallowed the thrower. It became a cathedral in 1969. Entry is free.
- 0:55Back on the Korzo, Palace Modello
Built in 1885 to a design by the Viennese architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer, the same pair who designed Rijeka's theatre, and put up in only eight months. The name comes from the Italian word for a model: the building was meant to show what a residential and commercial house on the new, modern Korzo should look like, with shops on the ground floor, offices above and flats at the top. Here the difference is visible in a single glance: behind you the fourteenth century, in front of you the nineteenth.
If time is left
The Governor's Palace stands on a rise above the harbour, built between 1893 and 1896 to a design by the Hungarian architect Alajos Hauszmann as the seat of the governor who administered Rijeka on behalf of the Hungarian government, the city then being the main port of the Hungarian half of the monarchy. Much of the original furnishing survives, and the palace houses the Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral. The visit takes an hour, so it is an outing of its own rather than an add-on to this walk.
Watch
Rijeka on video
A short official city film to help you picture the place before you go.
Rijeka: city in motion
Frequently asked questions
- Where does Rijeka's old town start?
- Behind the Korzo, through the passage under the City Tower. The Korzo is a nineteenth century axis, while the medieval core lies behind and above it.
- What is the oldest building in Rijeka?
- The Old Gateway, also called the Roman Arch, from the third or fourth century. It was the entrance to the praetorium of the Roman fort of Tarsatica and is freely accessible.
- How long does the old town walk take?
- About an hour for six stops, with steps and narrow lanes. The cathedral and the Church of the Assumption charge no admission.
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