Former Rikard Benčić Factory Building, Rijeka

The building of the former Rikard Benčić factory is located at 28 Krešimirova Street in Rijeka, in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County. It is the Baroque administrative building of a former industrial complex, of interest to visitors drawn to the industrial history of the city.

In the middle of the 17th century a sugar refinery was built on this site west of the city for the trading company Urban Arnoldt and Partners of Antwerp. In 1774 the administrative building was built to a design by Peter de Vierendeels. In 1830 the complex changed its purpose and became a tobacco factory. Although owners, contents and functions changed, the building kept its original Baroque design and outer shell. In the interior an imposing three-flight staircase dominates, along with halls richly decorated with stucco, with painted medallions of mythological content and scenes from ancient history.

The building is a protected cultural good and is entered in the Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia under the code Z-102.

Photo: Roberta F., CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Data: Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia (Ministry of Culture and Media), Open Licence; coordinates: Wikidata (CC0).