Booking.com

The statue of Maiden with the seagull is a symbol, not only of Opatija, but the whole Kvarner area. Gracefully standing on the reef beside Lungomare promenade in Opatija, it fastinates all passengers with her interesting story and identity which was unknown for decades.
The story begins in distant 1891 when count Arthur Kesselstadt unhappily lost his life in a heavy storm in the sea in front of Opatija. Devastated with grief, count's family put the statue of Madonna Del Mare on the reef to wake for his lost soul. Because of hard weather conditions the sculpture was damaged and later restored. Its gilded replica can now be seen in Saint James's Church above the Riviera, while the original is kept in the Croatian Museum of Tourism in the Villa Angiolina. As the place where the Madonnina once stood was left empty, it was decided to put another statue in its place. The Maiden with the Seagull was put up in 1956. The author of the statue is sculptor Zvonko Car. An amazing view of the sea expands in front of the statue.
The setting is especially impressive by night, when the Maiden is lighted with particular reflectors or during the stormy weather when waves splash and water scatters over the reef giving the look of a nymph rising from the spray.