1281 St. Vitus’ Rijeka was mentioned for the first time in the documents written by the Great Council of Venice

1315 Hugon II Devinski, the city ruler, founded the Augustinian monastery in Rijeka in the vicinity of which St. Geronimo’s Church was also built

1336 – 1365 Rijeka, under the rule of the Krk princes, later the Frankopans

1390 Hugon IV Devinski died without a successor, Rijeka and his other properties were inherited by Walsee counts

1438 Rijeka got a hospital, and two years later its first drugstore

1453 Prince Martin Frankopan built a monastery on Trsat with the permission of Pope Nicholas IV

1466 Rijeka, together with other Walsee family properties was inherited by Emperor Frederick III of the House of Habsburg

1468 Franciscans from Bosnia took over the Trsat Sanctuary

1509 The ransacked and burnt Rijeka was taken over by the Venetians under General Trevisan

1530 Emperor Ferdinand I approved the first Statute of Rijeka

1530 -1531 The Glagolitic printing house founded by Šimun Kožićić Benja began operating in Rijeka. Over a period of two years five books were printed both in the Glagolitic alphabet and in the Croatian language

1531 Rijeka received its first written Statute

1531 Klis captain, Petar Kružić ordered the construction of the first part of the Trsat steps

1595 The Municipality of Rijeka took over the administration and care of the port together with its main revenue. The Ottomans burst into Grobnik Field and Rijeka found itself in immediate danger

1599 The great plague took the lives of more than 300 inhabitants of Rijeka who lived inside the city walls; at that period Rijeka had over 2000 citizens

1627 The beginning of university in Rijeka, the Jesuits founded the first high school

1629 The Jesuit Theatre began operating in Rijeka, breaking ice for professional theatres

1638 The construction of the St. Vitus Church, which is now the Rijeka cathedral, began in keeping with the design of Giacomo Brian

1659 On 6 June, Emperor Leopold I assigned Rijeka its coat of arms with a two-headed eagle and the inscription “Inedficienter” – “Never running dry”

1690 The first consulate, the consulate of the Republic of Dubrovnik was opened in Rijeka

1719 On 18 March, Rijeka was proclaimed a free port with the decision of Emperor Charles VI

1726 The Jesuits opened the Faculties of Philosophy, Mathematics and Theology in Rijeka

1728 The Carolingian road (Rijeka – Karlovac) was completed and opened. On that occasion, Emperor Charles VI visited Rijeka

1750 A powerful earthquake destroyed Rijeka

1754 The sugar refinery which employed 1000 persons began operating in Rijeka

1776 Rijeka’s Gubernia was founded, and its first governor was count Josip Mailath de Szekhely

1805 According to his own design, A.Lj.Adamić constructed a stone theatre in Rijeka, which, at that period was one of the largest in Europe

1809/1810 The Louisiana road, named after Mary Louise, the wife of Napoleon I and the daughter of Austrian Emperor Franz I was completed

1813 General Laval Nugent freed Rijeka from the French rule

1821 Rijeka’s paper mill (Hartera) was founded

1848 The Croatian governor, Josip Jelačić, was proclaimed governor of Rijeka; Rijeka was directly annexed to Croatia

1850 The popular reading room was founded in Rijeka; the County of Rijeka was formed with seat in Rijeka

1852 The first gas plant began operating in Rijeka and at night Rijeka was illuminated with 226 gas lamps

1868 The Croatian-Hungarian Treaty was signed. According to the Treaty, Rijeka as a corpus separatum (separated body), came directly under the rule of the Hungarian government which was accomplished by adding article 66, the so called Riječka krpica, to the previously existing contract, approved by Emperor Franz Joseph I

1870 Rijeka was annexed to Hungary and was the Gubernia was reconstructed

1873 Rijeka was connected to Pivka and Karlovac by railway

1882 The oil refinery was founded at Mlaka; Rijeka got a modern sewerage system

1885 The new Rijeka theatre, currently known as the “Ivan pl. Zajc” Croatian National Theatre, was built

1887 The Croatian Popular Reading Room on Trsat was built

1888 The Continental Hotel on Sušak was opened

1891 The railway station building of the railway station was erected

1896 The construction of the city aqueduct and the new Governor’s Palace was completed

1899 The electrical tram passes through Rijeka

1905 The Rijeka Resolution was signed in today’s Radio Rijeka building, the basis of the Croatian-Hungarian liaison against Vienna’s interests

1914 The construction of the Fenice theatre building was completed, with as many as 1450 seats. With its unique construction and innovations in theatre technique, it was one of the most modern buildings of its kind in Europe

1918 Rijeka became part of the newly founded State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs; in November, the Italian army occupied the city

1919 On 12 September, Italian poet and adventurer, Gabriele D’Annunzio came to Rijeka with his Arditi; Sušak was proclaimed a city

1920 The Free State of Fiume was founded with the Treaty of Rapallo and Sušak was conceded to the Kingdom of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs; Rijeka was proclaimed an Italian Regency under the rule of Gabriele D’Annunzio

1924 Rijeka was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy with the Treaty of Rome

1925 Rijeka’s diocese was founded

1937 The construction of the Croatian Cultural Centre on Sušak began with the highest skyscraper in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia

1939 The beginning of construction of Rijeka’s skyscraper at the beginning of Korzo based on Umberto Nordi’s design

1945 On 3 May, Rijeka was freed from German occupation

1945 FC Kvarner was founded, which, in 1953, changed its name to FC Rijeka

1947 Rijeka and Istria were officially returned to Croatia with the Paris Peace Treaty and Sušak and Rijeka were merged into a unitary city territory

1962 The Municipality of Rijeka was founded

1968 The “Rijeka” hydroelectric power plant began operating; International Drawings Exhibition in Rijeka.

1969 Pope Paul VI founded the Rijeka and Senj archdiocese with headquarters in Rijeka

1970 “Rijeka” airport on Krk was opened

1973 The University of Rijeka was founded

1980 The turnover of 20.4 million tons of cargo was registered in the Port of Rijeka

1991 In early December the last units of the Yugoslav People’s Army departed from Rijeka
According to the census carried out that year, Rijeka had 164.000 inhabitants

1993 The Primorje-Gorski kotar County was founded with headquarters in Rijeka. The status of “city” was returned to Rijeka

2000 According to a decision by Pope John Paul II, Rijeka’s archdiocese and metropolis were founded with headquarters in Rijeka

2001 The Most hrvatskih branitelja (Bridge of Croatian Defenders) was opened

2003 Contracts were signed in Rijeka between the World Bank, the government of the Republic of Croatia, Hrvatske autoceste (Croatian highroads) and Hrvatske ceste (Croatian roads) as well as between the Port authority and the Port of Rijeka having the total counter value of USD156.5 million. The loan financed the demanding development project of the modernization of the Port of Rijeka and the reestablishment of Rijeka’s traffic route – the Rijeka Gateway Project

2003 In his 100th pastoral campaign and his 3rd visit to Croatia, Holy Father John Paul II spent five days in Rijeka. On the Pentecost holiday, Pope John Paul II held a Holy Mass on Delta, in Rijeka in which 100.000 believers participated. As numerous television stations followed the Pope’s 100th trip, not only as a jubilee campaign but because the Holy Mass was held in celebration of the Pentecost Holiday, Rijeka was, for a short period, the centre of the spiritual world of the Roman Catholic Church. It was the largest event of the Pope’s 3rd visit to Croatia and surely one of the most important events in the history of the City of Rijeka

2003 The new Spatial Development Plan of the City of Rijeka was adopted

2004 11th Alpe – Jadran Youth Summer Games. Approximately 1000 young sportsmen and 17 regions from 6 countries from the Alpe-Adria area participated at competitions held in Rijeka and its surroundings

2005 The City of Rijeka took over the former area of the Trsat army barracks, becoming an almost completely demilitarized city. The University Campus was later built on that area.

2005 The construction of the indoor Olympic pool on Kantrida began. The preliminary designs for the new bus station and city library were created

2005 The statue of Pope John Paul II was ceremonially presented in front of the church of the Trsat Sanctuary under the name the Trsat pilgrim