Trsat

Trsat (Italian: Tersatto, Latin: Tarsatica) is part of the city of Rijeka, Croatia. It has a historic castle or fortress in a strategic location and several historic churches. The Croatian noble Prince Vuk Krsto Frankopan is buried in one of the churches. Trsat is a steep hill, 138 m high, rising over the gorge of the Rječina river, about a kilometre away from the sea. It was strategically significant from the earliest times right up to the 17th century. Today it is a major Croatian Christian pilgrimage centre and home to a statue of Pope John Paul II who came to Trsat as a Pilgrim in 2003.

History

In the time before the Illyrians there was a fortified settlement, and then the Illyrian (japodian) fortress Tarsatica. Following this there was a Roman looking point, and from the 13th century it was the property of the Counts of Krk. Later it belonged to the Frankopans. Together with Vinodol, the Croatian-Hungarian King Andrija II presented Trsat to Vid II of Krk. 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.