Sea and Mountain Resorts: A Contribution to the Research of Public Health Institutions in the Interwar Period (Rijeka and the Region)

Abstract

The article analyses the architectural and conceptual aspects of the children’s sea resort Villa Italia on Costabella, the coastal stretch between Rijeka and Opatija, and the mountain resort IX. Maggio on Mount Učka, two representative examples of public health institutions established in the interwar period in the Kvarner Region, which was then part of the Kingdom of Italy. Apart from the sea and the mountains, such resorts were built near rivers and lakes or in urban centres. There were daily, temporary, and permanent ones, and each had its own peculiarities. Their programmes and activities were under the jurisdiction of the ruling fascist regime in cooperation with state and local administrative bodies. The designers of the sea resort Villa Italia and the mountain resort IX. Maggio, despite strong political and ideological pressure, made a significant contribution in creating new architectural values, achieving a high level of modernity in the field of interwar public health construction, both locally and nationally.