Liberation Park is located in the Delta area of Rijeka, between the mouth of the Rječina River and the Dead Canal (Mrtvi kanal). Due to its location and historical significance, it is one of the city's most important memorial sites and forms part of an area that is gradually being developed into a new urban green zone.

For more than seven decades, this green oasis has been home to a plane tree that is a candidate for the Croatian Tree of the Year 2026 competition. The tree has been nominated under the name “The Plane Tree That Connects.” Its value lies not only in its impressive appearance and age, but also in the symbolism it carries for the city of Rijeka. With a trunk circumference of 369 cm, the plane tree stands on the site of the former border between Rijeka and Sušak—two cities that once belonged to different countries and today form a single urban entity. 

It was planted next to the Liberation Monument, which was erected on 3 May 1955 to mark the tenth anniversary of Rijeka’s liberation in the Second World War. The monumental memorial, created by sculptors Vinko Matković and Raoul Goldoni, stands nearly 19 metres tall. Its bronze figure of a woman, symbolising Victory, raises her arms to represent the strength and greatness of freedom.

This site was once both a meeting point and a dividing line between Rijeka and Sušak—two cities that, throughout different periods of history, belonged to different states. At the time of liberation in 1945, they still held the status of separate cities. The process of unification began in 1947, and on 28 February 1948 the unified city of Rijeka was officially established. This is why the monument’s inscription mentions the liberators of both Sušak and Rijeka.

The monument is dedicated to the fighters and victims of the war and stands as a symbol of freedom and the city’s antifascist tradition.

You can read more about the turbulent history of the city of Rijeka at: https://visitrijeka.hr/en/at-the-turn-of-the-century