If you climb or drive to the Skull (or Luban as it is sometimes found on old maps or texts) to the plateau (parking grounds) near the stone pyramid, a monument to the struggles for the liberation of Rijeka at the end of World War II, you will see that the path forks on the left that leads to Podbreg, middle towards the hunting lodge and the right that descends downhill and you can reach Lopaca only on foot. This road, or rather the road once, before the road to Grohovo and Pašac (the so-called Petrolejka) was built, was the only and main link between Grobinština and Drenova and all the way further to Kozala or Škurinje.
In Zbornik za narodni život i običaje No 39 (Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts, Zagreb 1957), Ivo Jardas, in book No 39 ‘Kastavština’, writes:
Above Drenovun is the hill, ki j' naked at the top by the dancer's head. Zavin's theme is hill dej Skull.
All-knowing Wikipedia says:
Hill or bite (breg, as Jardas says) is elevation medium height (up to 500 m) at the Surface of the Earth. The hill is smaller than up or mountains.
Brijeg Lubanj stretches approximately in the direction south-north, starting opposite Veli vrh via Orešje, above Podbreg, Benaši and Garići.
The highest peak of Skull - Ples is 499 meters high, so it lacks only a meter to be a mountain and is the highest point in the city of Rijeka.
Take the right way downhill towards Skull and, if you have a bit of an exploratory spirit, head right into the beautiful forest that you will soon reach. Traces of gardens and vineyards are still visible in the forest (e.g. the village site, brick cisterns for water or blue galica, remains of dry stone walls... From these gardens, vineyards and from the forest, the burden of yield, dry leaves (hams) for the floor of treasure or wood and dry branches (dust on domestic) for combustion were carried daily to the houses. This work was carried out mainly by women – ‘on a mantle’ – as Mrs. O'Brien said. Inca Stephan.
Unlike Jardas's vision, today Skull is a beautiful wooded area, perfect for pleasant walks. Here's another suggestion: Start from the Hunting lodge, with a pleasant marked trail towards the top of Pleš. Just before the peak, you will reach the lookout by the rock which offers a magnificent view of Grobnik field, "Grobnička alpe" and the entire Grobinština.
A nice continuation of the walk across the top leads along the trail to Kopica on the way from Sašroni to Trnovica and back below the top to the hunting lodge. A nice walk of about an hour and a half a pleasant walk.
It has a skull and an interesting past.
The southernmost part, the grove opposite Veli vrh is called Kraljev (emphasis on e) vrh. How I was told by Fr. Rino Štefan was named after the legend according to which King Bela IV spent the night here with his army fleeing the Mongols in 1241.
In Željko Poljak's book "Croatian Mountains" (Zagreb, 2001) we find the information that they were on September 25, 1877. Mountaineers from Rijeka (Club Alpino Fiumano) set the foundation stone for the tower - a viewpoint (as it exists at the top of Učka) on the top of Luban (499m) in the hinterland of Rijeka. It provided a view of Grobničko polje, Učka and Velebit. It was demolished in 1901 because it became dangerous.
According to the attached sketch, the tower-view tower was about a hundred meters east of the beginning of the old road to Lopaca.
From 1903 until the end of World War II, there was on Skull, at the beginning of the old road to Lopača, a large iron cross with a crucifix that was demolished, apparently, for ideological reasons. Many older people in Drenovci do not know this, but the documentation from the digital collection of the museum and the recently found statue of Jesus from the crucifix, in the basement of Mrs. Alenka Franković, they are proof of its existence. The statue of Jesus from the crucifix, Mr. Gardner. Ivan Franković He gave it to our museum.
Adventurer, poet and, according to many, the founder of fascism Gabriele d’Annunzio, During his 16 months of rule over Rijeka, he did not bypass Drenova or the Skull. The description of the painting reads: Fiume – l’altare di monte Luban, 1.05.1920
World War II
What makes the most frequent mention of the areas of Katarina, Veli Vrh and Skull are certainly the events from the very end of the Second World War and the so-called battle of Rijeka when there were heavy struggles for the liberation of our city.
Traces of these struggles can still be found today in the forests of the Skulls.
In memory of the victims and the victorious 4th Yugoslav Army, the people of Drenovci erected a monument in the form of a stone pyramid with a red star on the plateau mentioned at the beginning of the text. The only written record I've been able to find is number 6 that the monument was unveiled on September 21, 1954.
In the archives of the Regional Museum of Drenova there are also paintings of the construction of monuments, the appearance of which immediately after the construction
and part of the ceremony at the opening (photos below)
Today, the monument looks like this. To the left, the image is seen from the driveway and to the right, as seen, or rather, not seen from the plateau . It's not until spring and summer when everything turns green - you can't see it at all. Shouldn't we take some care and bring this valuable object closer to many hikers and visitors to our beautiful Skull?
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