Zagreb is a big Croatian tourist
centre, not only in terms of transit from West and Central
Europe to the Adriatic Sea but also as a tourist destination.
The city with a tradition of almost one thousand years
celebrated in 1994 its 900th birthday. Zagreb is not
only rich in cultural and historical monuments, museums
and galleries, it also has a variety of modern shops,
and offers good quality of diversified restaurants as
well as sports and recreation facilities. It is a big
centre of congress tourism, economic and business events
and trade fairs not only in Croatia but also in this
part of Europe. Being an important junction point, it
has road, air, railway and bus connections with European
metropolises and all bigger cities and tourist resorts
in Croatia.
Zagreb has rich civil and cul-tural
heritage, dating from the -----pre-historic period (Veternica
Cave, Palaeolithic) and archaeological finds of the
Roman culture (scitarjevo) up to the present. The historical
part of the town, the Upper Town and Kaptol are a unique
urban core even in European terms, and thus represent
the target of sightseeing tours. The old town, its streets
and squares can be reached on foot, starting from Ban
Josip Jelacic Square, the central part and the heart
of Zagreb, or by a funicular in the nearby Tomiceva
Street. The old core of the town includes many famous
buildings, churches, mu-seums and institutions as well
as pleasant restaurants and coffee bars.
The history, art and culture not
only of Zagreb and Croatia but also of Europe and the
world, can be seen by walking through the large number
of Zagreb museums. Around thirty collections in museums
and galleries comprise more than 3.6 million various
exhibits, excluding church and private collections.
Only the Archaeological Museum (Nikola Subic Zrinski
Square 19) disposes of 400,000 objects, not all of them
being exhibited. The holdings include evidence of Croatian
presence in this area as well as rare samples which
made the museum known in the whole world. The most famous
are the Egyptian collection, the mummy and bandages
with the oldest Etruscan inscription in the world as
well as the numismatic collection. A part of the museum
is set aside for the collection of stone monuments dating
back predominantly to the Roman -period.
The Croatian Museum of Natural
Sciences (Demetrova Street 1) holds the world's most
extensive collection of the remains of Neanderthal man
found on one site - the remains of the pre-historic
man of Krapina and stone weapon and tools. The Technical
Museum (Savska Street 18) keeps the oldest preserved
machine in this area, dating from 1830 which still operates.
Valuable historical collections are found in the Croatian
Historical Museum, the Museum of the City of Zagreb,
the Museum of Arts and Crafts, the Ethnographic Museum,
the Croatian School Museum, the Croatian Hunting Museum,
the Croatian Sports Museum, the Croatian Post and Telecommunications
Museum, the HAZU (Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences)
Glyptotheque (collection of monuments), the HAZU Graphics
Cabinet.
Many visitors find the Mimara Museum
(Roosevelt Square 5), housing the donation by Wiltrud
and Ante Topic Mimara, very attractive. Of the total
of 3,700 most various works of art, more than 1,500
exhibits constitute permanent holdings, dating from
the pre-historic period up to the 20th century. The
HAZU Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters (Zrinski Square
11) offers permanent holdings presenting European paintings
from the 14th to the 19th centuries, and the Mestrovic
Studio, (Mletacka Street 8) with sculptures, drawings,
lithography portfolios and other items, is a donation
of this great artist to his homeland.
The Museum of Contemporary Art
(Catherine's Square 2) follows and presents contemporary
trends in fine arts. The Museum and Gallery Centre (Jezuitski
Square 4) introduces on various occasions the Croatian
and foreign cultural and artistic heritage. The Art
Pavilion (King Tomislav Square 22) is the oldest exhibition
complex in the Slavic south with regularly organized
exhibitions. The exhibitions are also held in the impressive
Mestrovic's building on Hrvatskih Velikana Square -
the Home of the Croatian Fine Artists. The Museum of
Naive Art (Cirilometodska Street 3) disposes of more
than one thousand works by a hundred and odd authors
of the Croatian naive art. The World Centre "Wonder
of Croatian Naive Art" (Ban Jelacic Square 12)
exhibits masterpieces of the Croatian naive art as well
as works of new generation of artists. The Modern Gallery
(Hebrangova Street 1) comprises all relevant fine artists
of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The city offers rich cultural and
artistic enjoyment. There are about 20 permanent or
seasonal theatres and stages. The Croatian National
Theatre is the most impressive building among them;
the most famous of concert halls is the Concert Hall
"Vatroslav Lisinski", named after the composer
of the first Croatian opera.
Zagreb hosts many domestic and
international events. The World Festival of Animated
Films takes place each even year, and the Music Bien-nial,
the international festival of avant-garde music, every
odd year. The Festival of the Zagreb Philharmonic and
the famous flowers exhibition Floraart (end of May or
beginning of June), the Old-timer Rally, the Week of
the Contemporary Dance, as well as Eurokaz, the international
festival of contemporary theatre (in June) represent
annual events. In the summer, theatre performances and
concerts, mostly in the Upper Town, are organized, either
indoors or outdoors. The stage on Opatovina hosts the
Zagreb Histrionic Summer.
Zagreb is also the host of Zagrebfest,
the oldest Croatian pop-music festival, as well as of
several traditional international sports events and
tournaments. On the Statehood Day (30th of May), a national
holiday sometimes accompanied by a military parade at
Jarun Lake, and the Day of the City of Zagreb (16th
of November) special festivities are organized. Entertainment
can be found in many discotheques, night clubs, casinos,
etc.
Numerous shops, boutiques, store
houses and shopping centres offer a variety of good
quality clothes. World famous Zagreb souvenirs include:
the ball-point pen, invented by Slavoljub Penkala from
Zagreb more than 80 years ago, or the tie, an accessory
named after Croatian horsemen who fought on the European
fronts from the Thirty Years' War in the 17th century
up to the French Revolution, wearing characteristic
scarves around their necks. The offer of Zagreb includes
good-quality crystal, china and ceramics, nice wicker
or straw baskets, top-quality Croatian wines and gastronomic
products.
Many of the Zagreb restaurants
offer various specialities of the national and international
cuisine. Domestic products which deserve to be tasted
include the turkey, duck or goose with "mlinci"
(a kind of pasta), "strukli" (cottage-cheese
strudel), cottage cheese with cream, traditional nut-cake.
As Zagreb is close to the sea, fish restaurants offer
fresh seafood. There are many fast-food restaurants
and stands in Zagreb, so that those who prefer this
type of food would not be disappointed.
There are several sports and recreational
centres in Zagreb. Recreational Sports Centre Jarun,
situ-ated on Lake Jarun to the southwest of the city,
has fine shingle beaches. The sports and recreation
opportunities include swimming, sunbathing, water-skiing,
angling and other water sports, but also beach volleyball,
football, basketball, handball, table tennis, miniature
golf. A jogging lane runs around the lake. The lake
has a regatta course of the world class. There are several
restaurants and a discotheque.
Sports Park Mladost, situated along
the embankment of the Sava river, has an Olympic-size
swimming pool, smaller indoor and outdoor swimming pools,
a sunbathing terrace, 16 tennis courts as well as basketball,
volleyball, handball, football and field hockey courts.
A volleyball sports hall is within the park.
Sports and Recreational Centre
Salata in the northern part of the town, only about
a hundred and odd metres from the heart of the town,
is most attractive for tennis players. It comprises
a big tennis court and eight smaller ones, two of which
are roofed over with the so-called "balloon",
and another two equipped with lights. The Centre also
has swimming pools, basketball and football playgrounds,
a gym and fitness centre, a four-line bowling alley.
Outdoor ice-skating is a popular winter recreation on
Salata. There are several fine restaurants within and
near the Centre.
Tennis Centre Maksimir, in the
part of the city called Ravnice to the east of Zagreb,
consists of two sports blocks. The first comprises a
tennis centre situated in a large tennis hall with four
courts. There are 22 outdoor tennis courts with lights.
The other block offers multipurpose sports facilities:
apart from tennis courts, there are handball, basketball,
indoor football grounds, as well as track and field
facilities, a boccia alley and table tennis opportunities.
Recreational swimmers can enjoy
in a smaller-size indoor swimming pool in Daniciceva
Street, and skaters can skate in the skating rink on
Trg Sportova (Sports Square). Hippodrome Zagreb offers
recreational horseback riding opportunities. Skiers
visit Sljeme which has four ski-runs, three ski-lifts
and a chairlift. There are several smaller sports centres
and playgrounds as well as gyms and fitness centres
in the city.
Picturesque villages in the close
vicinity, Sestine, Gracani and Remete, arranged around
the city like beads of a necklace, maintain their rich
tradition even today: folk costumes, Sestine umbrellas,
gingerbread products, etc. Medvednica Mountain - Zagrebacka
Gora, with its highest peak Sljeme (1,033 m), occupies
a special place in the lives of the Zagreb population
and visitors. A wonderful view spreads on Zagreb, the
Sava and the Kupa valleys, the region of Hrvatsko Zagorje
from the top of the mountain, and during fair weather,
the vista reaches as far as Velebit Mountain and snow-capped
peaks of the Slovenian Alps. There are several mountain
huts offering accommodation.
The old Medvedgrad, a mediaeval
burg built in the 13th century and recently restored,
represents Medvednica's special attraction. Now there
is the Shrine of the Homeland, a memorial place with
eternal flame, where Croatia pays reverence to all its
heroes fallen for homeland in its history.
Travel agencies organize guided
excursions to the surroundings as well as the sightseeing
of Zagreb.
ZAGREB, the capital of Croatia,
-situated on the slopes of Medvednica Mountain (Zagrebacka
Gora) and along the banks of the Sava river; elevation
120 m; population 706,770. The favourable geographic
position in the south-western part of the Pannonian
Basin which extends to the Alpine, Dinaric, Adriatic
and Pannonic regions, provides the best valuation of
traffic connection between Central Europe and the Adriatic
Sea. The city core comprises the mediaeval parts of
the town called Gradec (Gric) and Kaptol. The construction
of the railway embankment (1860) enabled the old suburbs,
which did not represent an urban whole up to then, to
merge gradually into Donji Grad, characterized by a
regular block pattern. Between the two World Wars working-class
quarters emerged between the railway and the Sava, and
residential quarters on the hills of the southern slopes
of Medvednica. The blocks between the railway and the
Sava were built after the Second World War, and from
the mid-1950s new residential areas south of the Sava
river, the so-called Novi Zagreb (New Zagreb). The cargo
railway hub and the international airport Pleso were
built south of the Sava. The biggest industrial zone
(Zitnjak) in the south-east represents an extension
of the industrial zones on the western and eastern outskirts
of the city, between the Sava and the Prigorje region.
Urbanized lines of settlements connect Zagreb with the
centres in its surroundings: Sesvete, Zapresic, Samobor,
Dugo Selo and Velika Gorica. The traffic position, concentration
of industry (metal-processing, electrical appliances,
textiles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, printing and leather
industries, wood processing, paper etc.), scientific
and research institutions and industrial tradition underlie
its leading economic position. Zagreb seats central
state administrative bodies (legislative, judiciary,
executive, monetary, defence, health care, cultural,
educational, traffic, etc.). There are three main traffic
communications: the western, towards Ljubljana, i.e.
West Europe; the eastern, towards South-eastern Europe
and the Near East; the south-western, towards Rijeka,
Croatia's biggest port. The railway running along the
Sutla river and the Zagorje main road (Zagreb - Maribor
- Vienna), as well as traffic connections with the Pannonian
region and Hungary (the Zagorje railroad, the roads
and railway to Varazdin and Koprivnica) are linked with
the trunk routes. The railway connection with Bosnia
and Herzegovina, along the Una valley to Split, is currently
out of use due to thewar damage.
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