After a two-year renovation, the main railway station in Rijeka has been restored to its original splendour.
The 19th century edifice had been neglected for ages until it was finally decided to renovate the historical building, starting with a facade restoration. The project is worth HRK 25 million in total, and works should be completed by the summer of 2023, according to RiPortal.
Conservators and restorers have been working on the building since March 2020, and are now putting the finishing touches on the facade. Scaffolding was taken down earlier this week to the delight of Rijeka locals, who are happy to see one of the main landmarks in the city finally getting the long-awaited makeover.
The railway station is the work of Ferenc Pfaff, a Hungarian architect who also designed the central railway stations in Zagreb and Osijek. The project was financed by the Hungarian State Railways with construction completed in 1891.
Special attention was paid to the restoration of original decorative elements on the facade, painstakingly carried out by a team of 20 experts from the company Terracotta from Zagreb. Weathered elements that were too heavily damaged had to be removed entirely and replaced with identical replicas: molds made from the originals were used to cast new terracotta elements.
The facade was also repainted and the exterior woodwork replaced. Interior works were also supposed to be nearing completion, but were delayed after the restorers uncovered original architectural sculpture in the vestibule. Conservators now need to draw up an interior design plan before works are allowed to continue. Once this is done, the next stage of the project can begin, namely renovation of the waiting rooms, staff offices and restrooms.
And while some are poetically calling the renovated building a rhapsody in white, others have pointed out that it wouldn’t take too long for vandals to tarnish the fresh facade with graffiti. Sadly, it wouldn’t even be the first time: as Novi list reported a while ago, several graffiti had been found on a renovated part of the facade back in December 2021.
They’ve been painted over in the meantime, and the facade was reportedly covered in special anti-graffiti coating that will prevent spray paint from permeating the wall surface and make cleanup easier.
