Old Crikvenica is considered to be a village called Kotor, which is located on hill nearby and shares the name with the village.
The town name comes from a church (Croatian: crkva = church - in dialect crikva) of the Pauline Fathers monastery, built by Nikola Frankopan nearby in 1412. Besides the church and the monastery at the mouth of the Dubra?ina, the nearby port of Gri�ane grew up. In 1760 the castellan moved from Bribir to Crikvenica and thus it became the centre of the whole Vinodol. In the 19th century Crikvenica became attractive to many tourists, which changed its history. In 1877 a harbour was built in Crikvenica, in 1888 a bathing beach and as early as 1891 the first hotel opened. In 1895 the Hotel Therapia was opened with 120 beds and the Hydrotherapy Institute. In 1902 the Hotel Crikvenica was built, in 1903 the Bellevue and in 1905 the Miramare. In 1906 Crikvenica became officially a health resort. Due to its favourable climate, in the space of just 16 years Crikvenica became the most important resort on the riviera.Today, with Selce, it is one of the most attractive parts of Kvarner coast, and of North Adriatic coast of Croatia in general
