Trsat

Towards the end of the 15th century the Habsburgs ruled Trsat and, even though it belonged to Croatia and the Frankopans, would not give it up because of its excellent position for the protection of Rijeka.

The inhabitants of Trsat and Rijeka waged their fiercest battles with the Venetians in 1508, while in 1527 the Turks made inroads into the city for a short time.

[2] Trsat was an extremely patriotic Croatian town, and, together with Sušak, demonstrated its attachment to its mother country at every opportunity, and its independence from Rijeka, which was part of Hungary.

Once the danger from the Turks had passed at the end of the 17th century, and fire arms had come into use, Trsat fortress was less important and was left allowed to fall into ruins, a process which was completed by an earthquake in 1750.

Count Laval Nugent, marshal and military commander of the Austrian coastal area, bought the ruins off the city, for an annual payment of one florint and had it restored in a Romantic Classicist-Biedermeier-style.

[3] He engaged the Venetian builder Paronuzzio and repaired the towers, decorated the interior and even built himself a mausoleum in the style of a Doric temple with four marble pillars supporting the facade.

[8] A new artistic contribution to the church was made by Vladimir Kirin (1894–1963), with five pictures on the greenish marble slabs with which the shrine is lined, and another by Ivo Režek (1898–1979) who portrayed the 14 stations of the cross in fresco technique.

[9] Opening in 2008, the campus now includes the Faculties of Applied Arts, Philosophy, Informatics, Mathematics and Civil Engineering, along with the Departments of Biotechnology and Physics.