-
Museum Mimara
Housed in a neo-Renaissance former school building (1883), the Museum Mimara displays a diverse collection showing the loving hand of Ante Topić Mimara, a private collector who donated over 3750 priceless objects to his native Zagreb, even though he spent much of his life in Salzburg, Austria.
-
Muzej Grada Zagreba
The City Museum is housed in the 17th-century Convent of St Clair along the eastern wall of the town. Since 1907 it has housed a historical museum presenting the history of Zagreb in documents, artwork and crafts plus interactive exhibits that fascinate kids. Most interesting is a scale model of Gradec. Summaries of the exhibits are posted in English.
-
Sabor
The eastern side of Markov trg is taken up by the Croatian Sabor, built in 1910 on the site of baroque 17th- and 18th-century townhouses. The neoclassical style seems incongruous here but the secession of Croatia from the Austro-Hungarian Empire was proclaimed from its balcony in 1918 and it is still the centre of Croatian politics.
-
St Mark's Church
One of Zagreb's most emblematic buildings is the colourful St Mark's Church, with its unique tiled roof constructed in 1880. The tiles on the left side depict the medieval coat of arms of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia, while the emblem of Zagreb is on the right side. The 13th-century church was named for the annual St Mark's fair, which was held in Gradec at the time, and it retains a 13th-century Romanesque window on the southern side.
-
Stone Gate
Don't miss the Stone Gate - the eastern gate to medieval Gradec Town (Gornji Gradec), now a shrine. According to legend, a great fire in 1731 destroyed every part of the wooden gate except for the painting of the Virgin and Child by an unknown 17th-century artist. People believe that the painting possesses magical powers and come regularly to pray before it and leave flowers.
-
Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters
The Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters is a fine art museum exhibiting the collection donated to the city by the illustrious Bishop Strossmayer in 1884. The original collection was extended by subsequent donations from private collectors.
-
Technical Museum
Take your kids to the Technical Museum, which has a planetarium, steam-engine locomotives, scale models of satellites and space ships, and a replica of a mine within the building, as well as departments of agriculture, geology, energy and transport.
-
Trg Josip Jelačića
Zagreb's main orientation point and the spiritual if not the geographic heart of the city is Trg Josip Jelačića. Ban Jelačić was the 19th-century ban (viceroy or governor) who led Croatian troops into an unsuccessful battle with Hungary in the hope of winning more autonomy for his people. The statue of Jelačić in the centre stood in the square from 1866 until 1947, when Tito ordered its removal because it was too closely linked with Croatian nationalism.
-
Zoo
This modest zoo recently came up with the novel idea of installing 'cages' for humans to educate the big-brained wonders about their impact on the environment.
-
Advertisement
