Our Lady of Trsat

The most renowned church in Rijeka is Our Lady of Trsat , a centuries-old magnet for believers. According to legend the angels carrying the house in which the Annunciation took place rested in Trsat before depositing the building in Italy. A chapel erected on the site attracted some pilgrims, but numbers were increased in the 14th century when the local nobility petitioned the pope for the donation of a 'miraculous' icon of Mary thought to have been painted by St Luke.

A bigger church was soon needed, and in 1453 the Frankopan prince Martin built a single-nave church to house the painting and a Franciscan monastery next door. The monastery was rebuilt in 1691 after a fire and a new nave was added to the church in 1644.