Dokumentarni esej // Documentary essay

Kozala je soseska, ki se nahaja na hribu nad mestnim središčem, na robu kanjona Rječine – reke v mestu Reka. Na drugi strani kanjona se vzpenja še en hrib – Trsat, zato se Kozala in Trsat spogledujeta in tekmujeta za prevlado nad mestnim središčem. Hrib se je v preteklosti imenoval Goljak, vendar se je to ime izgubilo, potem ko so jezuiti leta 1627 na njem začeli graditi Kalvarijo. Izdelano je bilo dolgo kamnito stopnišče, bogato s številnimi kapelicami na poti navzgor, da so ljudje lahko molili na svojem romanju. Na vrh hriba so postavili tri lesene križe, kasneje pa še kip Žalostne Marije. Kalvarija je bila nekakšen tekmec velikemu stopnišču Trsata (na vrhu Trsata je cerkev in ljudje hodijo na romanje še danes). V vmesnem času sta Kozala in Kalvarija postali pozabljeni kot molitveni in verski kraj, Žalostna Marija je poškodovana in zanemarjena, v sedemdesetih letih pa je jugoslovanska vlada izdelala projekt za gradnjo stanovanj za delavce. Zgrajenih je bilo sedem nebotičnikov, trije 20 nadstropni na zadnjem delu hriba in 4 nebotičniki z 12 nadstropji tik ob robu pečine na kanjonu. Kozala je zelo vidna in močno vpliva na podobo mesta Reke, saj je zelo prepoznavna že od daleč, na primer pri približevanju Reki z ladjo. Nebotičniki so bili postavljeni na majhne proste površine zemlje, ki niso bile že zasedene z majhnimi hišami, zato gre za precej natrpano območje, polno kontrastov. Na eni strani so tipične majhne, kamnite, mediteranske hiše, na drugi strani pa jih obkrožajo (skoraj zadušijo) veliki betonski velikani – nebotičnik. Velika obzidja obkrožajo čudovite majhne vrtove, ki jih mimoidoči ne vidijo – to so vrtovi starih hiš plemiške ali mestne elite, ki so si lahko privoščile življenje na hribu s čudovitim razgledom na morje. Toda danes ta pogled vključuje tudi veliko pristanišče in industrijske žerjave. Mesto je bilo navdih za slavni risani film Baltazar in njegovo mesto – Baltazargrad, s pisanimi hišami, v gneči zloženimi ena na drugo. Veliko te barvitosti in igrivosti se je izgubilo zaradi slabega vzdrževanja mesta in političnih odločitev, zato Reka danes ostaja kot duh nekdanje zgodovinske slave, potopljen v dež, sivino in apatijo, izgubljen med morjem in nebom.

// Kozala is a neighborhood situated on a hill above the city center, on the edge of canyon of Rječina – small river in the city of Rijeka. On the other side of the canyon, another hill arises – Trsat, so Kozala and Trsat are looking at each other, rivaling for the dominance above the city center. The hill was called Goljak in history, but this name got lost after Jesuits started to build Kalvarija on top of it in 1627. Long stone staircase was made, rich with many chapels on the way up, so people could prey on their pilgrimage. On the top of the hill, they placed three wooden crosses, and later the statue of Sad Madonna was placed. Kalvarija was kind of a rival to the big staircase of Trsat (on top of Trsat there is a church and people go on pilgrimage even to this day). In the meantime, Kozala and Kalvarija got forgotten as a place of prayer and religion, Sad Madonna is damaged and neglected, and in the 1970s the Yugoslavian government made project for building apartments for working class people. Seven skyscrapers were built, three 20 stories high more in the back of the hill, and 4 skyscrapers with 12 stories, just on the edge of the cliff upon a canyon. Kozala is very visible and makes a prominent skyline in the city of Rijeka, being very recognizable from even far away, for example when approaching Rijeka by boat. Skyscrapers are placed on small free particles of land which were not busy with small houses, so it is a quite crowded area full of contrasts. On one side, there are typical small, stone, Mediterranean houses, and on the other side, they are surrounded (almost suffocated) by big, concrete skyscraper giants. There are big walls that surround beautiful small gardens, not visible to by passers – those are old houses from noble or city elite, which could afford themselves to live on a hill with wonderful view on the seaside, but also today this view includes big port and industrial cranes. The city was an inspiration for famous cartoon Baltazar and its city – Baltazargrad, with houses stacked on top of each other, crowded and colorful. Lots of this color and playfulness was lost due to bad maintenance of the city and political decisions, so Rijeka remains today as a ghost of its former historical glory, sunken into rain, greyness and apathy, lost between sea and sky.