The city government of Rijeka, led by mayor Giovanni Ciotta, decided in 1883 to build a new theater, after the old Adamich Theatre was chosen for demolition. Ferdinand Fellner and Herman Helmer, from a Vienna studio specialized in theater design, were the architects. Construction took about two years.
It opened on October 3, 1885, as the Municipal Theatre with Verdi's Aida and Ponchielli's La Gioconda. The article does not name a style. It calls the building a masterpiece of its time and says it follows Central European standards. The Venetian sculptor Augusto Benvenuti made the figural and ornamental work, and Franz Matsch painted the ceilings, working with Ernst and Gustav Klimt.
The theater was renamed after Ivan Zajc in 1953, gained national theater status in 1991, and took its present name in 1994. It has Croatian and Italian drama, opera and ballet branches.
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