LITTLE SALON
The Small Salon is located in the south-western corner of the Palace’s first floor. It is connected to the adjacent salons – the Lady’s Salon to the south and the Dining Room to the west, and to a lobby leading to the Atrium. According to the original Hungarian design, the room was named the Small Salon (Hung. Kis salon).
There was a fireplace by the middle of the eastern wall, the walls were lined with wallpaper (most likely silken) and the woodwork was painted white. The Governor’s guests could retire to the White Salon after lunch to rest and socialise, therefore there were recliners, chairs, sofas and mahogany coffee tables there that have not been preserved.
In 1938, when the Palace was the seat of the Italian Kvarner Province, it underwent a thorough reconstruction. The Small Salon was at the time turned into the Italian governor’s office, and the Dining Room into an office for his closest associates –his chief of staff and secretary. Under the new layout, the former Lady’s Salon was turned into a waiting room. The governor entered his office through a smaller room – a lobby, where there was an elevator leading to his living quarters on the second floor. During the rearrangement, the wallpaper was removed from the walls of the Small Salon and the walls were painted with lime water paint, the stucco was repaired and the woodwork and parquet floor were renewed.
When the Museum assumed management of the Palace, its permanent display was gradually set up on the first floor and the materials related to changes in furniture styles was displayed in the Small Salon. The display was removed in 1991, during the Homeland War, according to instructions issued by the Ministry of Culture as a part of emergency procedure measures. The display was renewed to mark the 100th anniversary of the Palace’s construction in 1996, and the room today exhibits Rijeka’s social life in the 19th and 20th centuries.
