The sugar refinery was the first and oldest industrial plant in Rijeka. It was founded in 1750 and used for processing of sugarcane and raw sugar. It was located on the sea shore and the raw material used to be unloaded from sailing boats in front of the factory’s entrance. In 1786 a new administrative building was constructed, a large Baroque palace. The sugar refinery had been working until 1828 and was succeeded by the Tobacco Factory. It enlarged its complex of buildings, thus becoming the largest tobacco processing plant in the Monarchy.
Within the new buildings, a plant for cigar production was built in 1867 and was called the T-facility because of the shape of its ground plan. Close to it, two plant facilities were attached, which, by way of their ground plan, remind us of the letter H. After the Second World War, the Rikard Benčić Engine Factory moved to the complex. The old baroque palace still reminds us today of the sugar refinery where numerous painted walls and relief decorations are preserved. The palace is currently undergoing large scale restoration and conservation.
