One of Rijeka’s important landmarks is the Maritime and Historical Museum which is located in one of the most beautiful buildings from 19th century Rijeka. A former palace, it was originally designed and built as the residence for king’s emissaries and governors. Today it is a Museum which collects, keeps, handles and presents artefacts connected to the history and culture of the Primorsko-goranska County and the city of Rijeka, starting with the first settlers in pre-historical times through to the 20th century. Divided into categories, the museum’s collection contains the Archaeological Department with pre-historical, Greek, Roman, medieval and numismatic collections. For those fascinated by aquatic forms of transport, the History of Maritime Department consists of historical reconstructions of ships, ship equipment, nautical instruments, maps, pictures and prints as well as material from the Ethnographical, Cultural and Historical Departments.
References:The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.
The remains of the central tower are up to 3.6 metres high, and the stone walls are up to 4.1 metres thick.