Rijeka. A disputed city, at the center of twentieth-century European history.

Through a simple and engaging audio narration, we retrace the key moments: the Empire, the war, the enterprise, the exodus.
A story to listen to in order to understand, remember and not forget.

Edited by Massimiliano Grohovaz.

🎙️ Episode 1 – The medieval origins of Rijeka

From the year 1000 to Habsburg rule: a city between empires, bishops and legends.

🎙️ Episode 2 – River between empires and autonomies (1500–1800)

Wars, statutes, epidemics and economic development: two centuries of transformations for a disputed city.

🎙️ Episode 3 – A River of Revolutions, Occupations and Development (1800–1870)

From the Napoleonic Empire to the Dual Monarchy: between political instability and civil growth, Rijeka seeks its place in Europe.

🎙️ Episode 4 – River between progress and tensions (1869–1914)

An era of extraordinary growth between ports, industries and culture. But in the background, nationalisms that will lead to conflict emerge.

🎙️ Episode 5 – River in the Great War (1914–1919)

Between military ports, proclamations of annexation and diplomatic negotiations, Rijeka became a crucial node in the new European order.

🎙️ Episode 6 – The Rijeka Enterprise and the Birth of the Free State (1919–1920)

Between myth, occupation and Constitution: D'Annunzio leads a unique revolution in Italian and Rijeka history.

🎙️ Episode 7 – From the Free State to Annexation: Fiume between Crisis and Regime (1920–1939)

Autonomy suffocated, annexation to Italy, racial laws and cultural resistance: Fiume enters the orbit of fascism.

🎙️ Episode 8 – War, Chaos and Violence: River 1940–1943

From Italy's entry into the conflict to the German occupation: a territory disputed between partisans, repression and tragedies.

🎙️ Episode 9 – River under the bombs and the shadow of the foibe (1943–1945)

Between Nazi occupation, deportations, Resistance and Yugoslav liberation: the darkest years in the history of the city.

🎙️ Episode 10 – Political repression in Rijeka (1944–1947)

Arrests, informants, show trials and religious persecutions: the dark face of the post-war period under the Yugoslav regime.

🎙️ Episode 11 – The Exodus and the Erasure of Italian Identity

After the Second World War, Fiume lost its Italian soul. A mass exodus, the rewriting of memory, the difficult reintegration of exiles into the new Italy.

🎙️ Episode 12 – Rijeka, a thousand years of history (1000–1950)

In this final episode, we retrace the main historical events that have marked Rijeka: from the medieval origins to the exodus of Italians in the post-war period. A journey full of identities, conflicts and transformations.