The oldest traces of man's presence in the Rijeka region of today date back to the Palaeolithic and Neolithic ages, while the ruins of the prehistoric hill-forts (Solin overlooking Martinscica, the Trsat Hill and Veli Vrh - Gradisce overlooking the Rjecina River) date back to the bronze and iron ages. Such a settlement dominated the Rijeka Bay and secured the port in the time of the Illyrian tribes (Liburnia) as well.
The Romans relocated the town center closer to the sea, on the right bank of the mouth of the Rijecina River into the Adriatic Sea, on the site of today's Old Town. Numerous archeological sites (the foundations of Roman fortified walls, walls of dwellings, thermal bath ruins, the Roman portal) give evidence to the urban level of the Roman Tarsattica. Given it's location on gentle slopes and a narrow coastal zone, abundant with fresh water springs, secluded by a bay having the properties of a natural port, this settlement possessed all the predispositions required for development into a major seaport and trading town.
This prompted the newly arrived Slavic nation - the Croats - to overtake Tarsattica and to commence building a new settlement. The first original document on this medieval settlement dates back to the first half of the 13th century. However, historical sources speak of two settlements: TRSAT on the hill on the left bank of the
Rjecina River on the site of the previous Liburnian settlement TARSATA, and RIJEKA on the shore-line on the site of the Roman TARSATICA. Rijeka of that period is a small fortified town, enclosed within the town walls which have several defense towers.The town is divided into two parts: in the upper part, there is a medieval castle and the church of St. Vitus (thus the name Flumen Sancti Viti), while the lower part - the popular, commercial and trading center - is commonly known to it's inhabitants as Rika or Rijeka.
At the beginning, as well as towards the end of the 16th century, Rijeka was is the hands of the Devin nobility, the Princes of Krk (the Frankopans), followed by the family of Walsea and finally, from 1466 it was in the possession of the Habsburgs. At that time, Rijeka's population numbered about 3000.