Abacia, or modern Opatija, was a popular destination for visitors from Poland. People used to come here for treatment, sometimes for stays of many years, if they could afford it, more often for a few weeks. People came not only for treatment, but above all for relaxation. Besides, Abacia was fashionable, and a stay in the resort could be boasted of in company - as Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński wrote in his famous epigram about Mrs Stefania, who "travelled to Abacia to find a topic of conversation".

Until the restoration of independence, the majority of visitors came from Galicia, but advertisements in the "Kurier Warszawski" or "Kurier Wileński", placed sporadically but nevertheless, prove that attempts were also made to attract customers from further regions. After the war, by the way, Abacy became fashionable throughout the Second Polish Republic. Druskininkai, Zaleszczyki, Truskawiec, Zakopane, Krynica, Vorochta, Szczawnica were all popular spas and resorts in Poland, but none of them provided relaxation by the sea. Here, the top places are in free Poland: Jurata, Jastrzębia Góra and Orłowo. Among the slightly cheaper ones were: Jastarnia, Karwia, Jasne Wybrzeże, Hellorowo or Kuźnica. The resorts located in the area of the Free City of Gdansk were also not far away - the famous Sopot or the popular Jelitkowo were also visited by Poles. By part of the population, resting in these places was considered unpatriotic, and besides, it was expensive. In this perspective, Istria appears as a quite rational competition, especially as a relatively good possibility of access remained after the Austro-Hungarian times. The relatively large number of newcomers from Poland meant that the way was open for the opening of businesses aimed at Polish newcomers. This was undoubtedly the case with Polish boarding houses, and as people went to Abacia to receive medical treatment, Poles also offered medical services, including Dr Henryk Ebers junior, who ran a spa in Krynica, or Ksawery Górski - the founder of a sanatorium in Szczawnica, or another medical celebrity of the time - Dr Bolesław Kostecki, or Dr Marian Herlineger in Lovran in the villa 'Ausonia'.

As late as the end of the 19th century, access to Abacia was still relatively convenient. As reported by the "Kurier Warszawski", as early as 1896 direct tickets were planned to be sold, among others. On the route Abazia - St Petersburg , Moscow, Riga and Warsaw. From Lvov or Krakow, the journey took a similar length of time as to the Black Sea or the Baltic. From Lviv to Odessa (as the crow flies), it's about 500 km, to the Baltic Sea about 600 km, and if you go to the popular Palanga, it's even further. To Croatia, on the other hand, the distances change even further in favour of Croatia. On top of that, it was possible to stop over in the partitioned but nonetheless fashionable Vienna. And from there it was already possible to travel to Abacia in one night. Such a journey was described by "Rev. M-i" in the pages of the "Kurier Warszawski" of 1906: "Having left at night amidst lightning and a great downpour from Vienna Sudbahnen, at 8 o'clock with minutes I stood in fine weather about 9 o'clock in the morning at the last station where the train to Matuglie goes to Abacha. Here one takes a two-horse carriage (I have not seen any others) which, after a good half-hour's ride and a bad one, for 5 crowns takes the traveller to the place where he wishes to stand. I was recommended Irena, or Ayram (Marya) in Krakow, where they supposedly speak Polish, but since my coachman did not know about them, I stood in front of Augusta" The villas mentioned were probably not Polish guesthouses, but only employed a person who knew Polish. Further on, one can read that "As the village is situated by the sea; so every hour ships leave to Piume (Rieki), to Lovrano, and to various other destinations and usually full of greedy travellers".

Polish boarding houses called rather modestly villas, and in fact more resembled town palaces, often with facades overloaded with decoration. According to Bolesław Kostecki, at the beginning of the 20th century there were two Polish guesthouses in Opatija - Villa Ayram, managed by Dr Henryk Ebers junior founder of the spa in Krynica, and Villa Irena. In the following years, in Opatija there was, among others, the spacious Mascagni guest house, preserved until today, run by Mrs Grassi. In 1910. Willa Heim functioned as a Polish boarding house run by Wanda Marchlewska (Orłowicz in 1914 states that it was run together with Mrs Grużewska). Marchlewska, however, advertised in the 1910 'Kurier Warszawski' independently. On the other hand, we know from an advertisement in the 'Kurier Wileński' of 1913 that Wanda Marchlewska also ran a boarding house in Karlbad (Germany). However, from 1914 onwards, she only advertises a Polish house in Germany, so perhaps in 1914 she gave up running a boarding house in Abazja. In addition - as mentioned by Mieczysław Orłowicz - there was the Villa Peppina run by Ms Polaska, as well as the Villa Regina. Poles also stayed in other places like "Kronprinzessin Stefania". On the other hand, in Lovran there was a 'first-class Polish Central guesthouse' run by Sidonia Romańczuk-Gadomska, which was supposed to have a Polish character and, above all, Polish cuisine.

Unfortunately, the history of these guesthouses is poorly known, no photos from the era have survived (except in Lovran), we don't know how they functioned on a day-to-day basis, and some of them we don't even know where exactly they were located. This information is what we are looking for - if any of our readers have it - please contact us .