Exhibition on the Titanic and the legendary Carpathia opened at Pećine

Published at Novi List: “Na Pećinama otvorena izložba o Titanicu i legendarnoj Carpathiji”, Vladimir Mrvoš, 05 Match 2026 21:38 https://www.novilist.hr/rijeka-regija/rijeka/na-pecinama-otvorena-izlozba-o-titanicu-i-legendarnoj-carpathiji/

As many as 84 Croatian crew members of the Carpathia participated in the rescue of 712 survivors from the Titanic, making Rijeka permanently inscribed in world maritime history

RIJEKA –

The exhibition “RMS Titanic and RMS Carpathia” was officially opened in the premises of the Local Board of Pećine in Rijeka, which, thanks to the exceptional richness of the exhibition, attracted a large number of visitors who revived the story of courage, tragedy and human solidarity.

The authors of the exhibition – Slobodan Novković, Nevenko Žunić, Milan Vičević, Željko Heimer, Ivo Šantić and Željko Ševerdija – through a carefully selected collection of original objects, documents and multimedia content, enabled the public to briefly step into the world of the most famous passenger ship in the world, as well as the legendary Carpathia, whose destination port was Rijeka for almost a decade.

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The story of the Titanic is often reduced to luxury and tragedy, but tonight’s turnout shows that the people of Rijeka recognize what is more important – the courage and solidarity of our people who have shown the greatest human values in the cold Atlantic, said Željko Ševerdija, president of the council of the Municipality of Pećine, opening the exhibition.

The exhibition also includes historical postcards from 1912, a list of names of Croatian passengers and a rich collection of copies of documents, photographs and letters related to the Croatian destinies on the Titanic.

A special part is a small library with about 40 titles dedicated to this topic. Special emphasis at the exhibition is placed on the role of the Carpathia, which, along with some other ships from the Cunard Line fleet, sailed on the regular transatlantic line Rijeka (Fiume) – New York, with berths in Trieste, Naples, Palermo, Messina, Genoa and Gibraltar before setting sail on an ocean voyage to New York.

 

On that legendary April 1912, Carpathia wrote one of the noblest pages of maritime history.

 

On the dramatic night of April 15, 1912, the crew of the Carpathia, whose ranks included as many as 84 Croats, showed extraordinary humanity by participating in the rescue of 712 survivors, which made this “Rijeka” ship inscribed in golden letters in the history of world shipping.

Visitors were particularly interested in viewing the unique collection of the Titanic 100 Association from Bratina, which includes precious artifacts such as the last letter of Croatian emigrant Ivan Stanković, a piece of coal extracted from the wreck of the Titanic from a depth of 3,800 meters and a fragment of the ship’s equipment of the sister ship Olympic.

 

The visual experience was complemented by impressive oil paintings by the Rijeka painter Nevenko Žunić, ship models, historical postcards and lists of names of Croatian passengers, while the vexillological side of the research (the art and practice of designing flags) showed the fascinating history of the use of flags as a key means of communication at sea at the time.

This exhibition, which was jointly organized by the Titanic 100 Association, the Croatian Heraldic and Vexillological Society, the Association of Sea Captains of the Northern Adriatic “Queen of the Sea” and the Municipality of Pećine, represents the first such event in Rijeka after 2012, i.e. the Titanic/Carpathia exhibition at the Historical and Maritime Museum of the Croatian Littoral.

 

This exhibition once again emphasized the importance of preserving our rich maritime heritage within a global context.

 

The exhibition, which is free of charge, remains open to the public at Janka Polića Kamova 73A until March 20, with working hours from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., while the visit of groups can be arranged directly with the secretariat of the Local Council of Pećine.