It is located in the western part of Vinodol, in the hill above Bakarac, which served as its seaport.

Hreljin is first mentioned in historical sources in 1225, when the Frankopan noblemen received it as a gift from the Croatian-Hungarian king Andrew II.

When Bakar was declared a Royal free city in 1778, Hreljin was under its rule, but already decaying.

The castle, probably the oldest part of the fortified settlement, was at the highest point of the hill, facing the Bakar Bay.

Next to the ruins of the church stands the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary,[2] dedicated in 1701.