Medvedgrad

Getty Images/Moment Open

Medvedgrad


This medieval fortress, just above the city on the southern side of Mt Medvednica, is Zagreb’s most important medieval monument. Built from 1249 to 1254, it was erected to protect the city from Tartar invasions. Today you can see the rebuilt thick walls and towers, a small chapel with frescos and the Shrine of the Homeland, which pays homage to those who died for a free Croatia. On a clear day it offers beautiful views of Zagreb and surrounds.

In July it hosts Medvedgrad Music Evenings, concerts under starry skies with amazing vistas of the twinkling lights below. To get here, take bus 102 from Britanski trg and get off at the church in Šestine; continue on foot following hiking trail (marked 12; from Lagvić to Medvedgrad).


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Mirogoj

3.3 MILES

A 10-minute ride north of the city centre (or a 30-minute walk through leafy streets) takes you to one of the most beautiful cemeteries in Europe, sited…

2. City Museum

3.9 MILES

Since 1907 the 17th-century Convent of St Claire has housed this museum which presents the history of Zagreb through a hodgepodge of exhibits. The…

3. Croatian Natural History Museum

3.92 MILES

This museum houses a collection of prehistoric tools and bones excavated from the Krapina cave, inhabited by neanderthals, as well as exhibits showing the…

4. Meštrović Atelier

3.94 MILES

Croatia’s most recognised artist is Ivan Meštrović. This 17th-century building is his former home, where he worked and lived from 1922 to 1942; it houses…

5. Lauba

4 MILES

This private art collection, housed in a former textile-weaving mill in an industrial area of western Zagreb, provides an insight into Croatian…

6. St Mark’s Church

4 MILES

The 13th-century St Mark’s Church is one of Zagreb’s most emblematic buildings. Its colourful tiled roof, constructed in 1880, has the medieval coat of…

7. Sabor

4.02 MILES

The eastern side of Trg Svetog Marka is taken up by the Croatian sabor (parliament), built in 1910 on the site of baroque 17th- and 18th-century town…

8. Gulliver Mural

4.05 MILES

The park at the northern end of Opatovina is brightened up by this 30m long mural of a sleeping Gulliver, tied up by the Lilliputians, on its eastern wall…