Kindergarten of the Sisters of Mercy
address: 1 Ivana Grahovca StreetPeriod: Historicism
Kind: Immovable material heritage
Century: 20
Year: 1916
Purpose: residental business
The Kindergarten of the Sisters of Mercy was built in 1916 according to the project by the architect Luigi Luppis from Rijeka. The kindergarten was built on the site of the oldest kindergarten in Rijeka from 1847, which was torn down owing to the construction of the new one.
Luppis designed the high monumental building with historicistic elements, with Renaissance decorative elements shaping the façade. The interior is in Art Nuveau style with large classrooms, a dining room, a kitchen, an infirmary and a hall for performances with a stage.
Within the building, there is an elevator made by the Austrian manufacturer Stigler, one of six Art Nuveau elevators in Rijeka awaiting restoration.
After the kindergarten had closed down, the space was converted for the needs of a store, resulting in the loss of most of its Art Nuveau and historicistic elements.
Today it is owned by the City of Rijeka
Valorization:
Art Nuveau elevator is included in the List of Protected Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia Register of Cultural Goods.
Bibliography:
Glavočić, Daina, Arhitektura historicizma u Rijeci: 1845. – 1900.: arhitektura i urbanizam, MMSU, Rijeka, 2001.
Lozzi Barković, Julija, Arhitektura historicizma u Hrvatskom primorju i Istri, Museum of Arts and Crafts, Zagreb, 2000.
Matejčić, Radmila, Kako čitati grad, Publishing Centre Rijeka, Rijeka, 1990.
