Governor's Palace (Maritime & History Museum)

Perched on the rise above the harbour, the vast neo-Renaissance Governor's Palace was built in 1893–1896 by the Hungarian architect Alajos Hauszmann — the same man who rebuilt Buda's Royal Palace — to symbolise Budapest's grip on its only seaport. Twenty-eight rooms of frescoed ceilings, mahogany panelling and Murano chandeliers still remain remarkably intact, making this one of the finest surviving Austro-Hungarian palace interiors on the Adriatic. Since 1955 it has housed the Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral: charts and figureheads from the golden age of Fiume's shipbuilding, torpedoes made in the world's first torpedo factory that operated a kilometre away, and archaeological finds from Liburnian tumuli. Don't miss the grand ceremonial staircase and the ballroom with its restored gilt mirrors — this is where the Free State of Fiume proclaimed its independence in 1920 under the poet-adventurer Gabriele D'Annunzio, whose two-year occupation is one of the strangest episodes in interwar European history. Ninety minutes covers the collection comfortably; allow another hour for the palace's own gardens with their view across the port to Cres and Krk. Ticketed separately for citizens and visitors, with reduced-price combined tickets covering three of the city's museums.