CONFERENCE TOPICS

The motto of this year's Rijeka Conference points to the importance of Rijeka's position on traditional trading routs. This position was noticed even in antique times, and probably, apart from abundant water flows, it was one of key reasons for the establishment of a settlement on this place.

As the biggest Mediterranean gulf, the Adriatic at this point cuts deeply into the European continent, providing Rijeka with the opportunity to take over the role of a key point on the shortest traffic route between the Central European and the Mediterranean area.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the Carolina road was built through the neighboring Gorski kotar mountainous area, connecting Karlovac with Rijeka. on the same route the Louisa Road was built at the beginning of the 19th century. The railway road Budapest-Rijeka started operating in 1873 and contributed to the establishment of a direct link between Rijeka and the Danube hinterland.

In the same year Rijeka was connected by railway with Trieste, Ljubljana and Vienna, which
opened the doors to the West European areas. In parallel to this process, Rijeka was gaining on importance as a port for handling goods from the Continent towards the Outer World.

Since 1979 the Adriatic Pipeline is built, and it's Terminal in Omišalj on the island of Krk gains on importance in the total cargo turnover of the Port of Rijeka. At approximately the same time, the airport Rijeka started functioning on the island of Krk. The beginning of this century is marked by the construction of the Rijeka-Zagreb High Way, with its continuation towards the Hungarian border.

Thinking of projects that wanted to link the Kupa river valley with the port of Bakar, close to Rijeka; and that plans were made for the construction of a low lands railway which would open new traffic horizons for Rijeka and connect it with Central Europe, it becomes clear that the story about Rijeka as a crossroad of trading routs doesn't stop writing further significant Pages.

The topics from history mentioned at the Rijeka Conference should also point to their actual dimension. This is just another confirmation that the importance of the Rijeka technical heritage does not fade out with time.