My Visual Travel Experience: Zagreb

I visited Croatia in 2011 and spent 3 days in Zagreb. I found it to be a charming town with some lovely churches and a large number of interesting museums. What I found particularly interesting is that Zagreb is divided into two parts – the Upper Town (or Old Town), and the Lower Town (the Modern Town). A funicular connects the two parts. The two parts of the town have quite a different character, and not surprisingly, I found the Old Town a lot more interesting.

Zagreb is a town with a population of 780,000 and it is the capital and largest city of Croatia. Croatia declared its independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. Fierce fighting followed for the next four years, between the Croatians and the Serbs living in Croatia, who were assisted by the Yugoslav People’s Army. Post 1995, Croatia has prospered and gone on to become a part of the EU in 2004 and NATO in 2009.

Earlier in its history, Croatia was a part of the Austro Hungarian Empire, under the Habsburgs. It declared independence in 1918. Later, after World War II, Croatia was a part of Yugoslavia, along with Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Montenegro. Tito held the country together until his death in 1980. Thereafter, the country’s split was inevitable, due to the unrest between the many different ethnic communities.

The Church of St Mark, in the Upper Town, stands out because of the tiled roof that has the coat of arms of Croatia and Serbia. The origins of the church date back to before 1256 . The church has a Gothic portal completed back in 1377. The portal has 15 figures, including those of Jesus, Mary, St Mark and the 12 Apostles.

Church of St Mark

Gothic Portal at Church of St Mark

Zagreb Cathedral dates back to the 11th century, but the present structure was built largely after a big earthquake in 1880. The cathedral has two spires that stand at a height of 105 meters.  The Tomb of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac lies inside the cathedral. He was persecuted during the Communist regime, but was later beatified by Pope John Paul II.

Zagreb Cathedral

Virgin Mary Column, Zagreb Cathedral

Tomb of  Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, Zagreb Cathedral

High Altar, Zagreb Cathedral

Pulpit, Zagreb Cathedral

The Archbishop’s Palace is right next to Zagreb Cathedral and surrounds it on three sides. The complex has multiple towers, built in 1469 to fortify the town against the Turks. The palace in its present form was however completed only in 1730.

Archbishop's Palace

The Funicular that connects the Lower Town and the Upper Town makes life a lot easier for tourists.

Funicular

The Lotrscak Tower dates back to the 13th century. Every day at noon, a cannon is fired and this practice has been on since 1877. The top of the tower offers fine views of the town.

Lotrscak Tower

The Stone Gate is a 13th century structure, and the only remaining part of an ancient defensive wall. Inside the Stone Gate is a famous painting of Virgin Mary, which survived a fire in 1731. It has since become a well known pilgrimage site.

Stone Gate

Sculpture, Stone Gate

St George Sculpture, Stone Gate

The Mimara Museum’s exhibits were gifted to the city of Zagreb by Ante Topic Mimara in 1972. The museum was built to house the vast personal collection. The works include paintings, medieval sculptures, archaeological finds, Ming vases and oriental carpets. A real treasure trove!

Mimara Museum

Mimara's Death Mask, Mimara Museum

Renoir's Bathing Woman, Mimara Museum

The Mestrovic Gallery is housed in a large building where the sculptor Ivan Mestrovic resided for 20 years from 1922 to 1942. Mestrovic (1883 – 1962) was one of the 20th century’s best known sculptors. After studying in Zagreb and Vienna, he worked in Paris and made a name for himself. He also spent a lot of his working life in Zagreb and Split. Later in his life, he moved o the US, where he taught in universities. He breathed his last there. He designed his own mausoleum in Otavice, where he was buried after his death. The Mestrovic Gallery has close to 300 of his works.

Self Portrait, Mestrovic Gallery

The Evangelist John, Mestrovic Gallery

The Croatian Gallery of Naïve Art was started in 1952 and has been housed in its current building in the Upper Town since 1994. The paintings feature strong peasant craft traditions. Peasant life is a common theme running across many of the paintings.

Kovacic's Woman in Winter Landscape,
Croatian Gallery of Naive Art

Generalic's Village Dance,Croatian Gallery of Naive Art

The Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences was built in 1876 by Bishop Strossmayer. It contains a fabulous collection of paintings by old masters, including El Greco, Carpaccio and Lippi.

El Greco's St Mary Magdalene,
Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences

The Museum of Arts and Crafts has a beautiful collection of applied art, including a collection of ceramics, glassworks, clocks and furniture.

Porcelain Figure of Children, Museum of Arts and Crafts

The Archaeological Museum has been housed in the beautiful Neo Classical Vraniczany Hafner Palace since 1945. It has artifacts and finds from all over Croatia. There are ancient objects, mummies, Greek vases and jewelry, among many other things.

Vucedol Dove (2,500 BC), Archaeological Museum

Zagreb Mummy (3rd century BC), Archaeological Museum

The Croatian National Theatre was completed in 1895 and is a beautiful baroque building. In front of the theatre lies the sculpture The Well Of Life, by famous sculptor Ivan Mestrovic. It has a group of bronze figures around a well.  

Croatian National Theatre

The Natural History Museum has a good collection of stuffed animals.

Mountain Goat, Natural History Museum

Dolac Market is a lively market in the heart of the city near the Church of St Mary, where farmers sell their produce, and fishermen sell fish. 

Dolac Market

Jelacic Square, named after Governor Jelacic, has an equestrian sculpture of the governor, and also a big clock. It is surrounded by commercial buildings and shops. Zagreb Cathedral is near by.

Jelacic Square

Zagreb Railway Station is housed in a grand building and has sculpture of  Prince Tomislav in front of it.

Glavini Kolodvor, the Railway Station

Zrinjevac is a large, green square close to the centre of the town, and surrounded by majestic buildings. It has a pavilion in the centre of the square.

Zrinjevac

All in all, I was very happy with my Zagreb visit. I was impressed by the sheer number of interesting museums the town had to offer. Zagreb served as a good base point to set off for the Adriatic Coast and the delightful walled town of Dubrovnik, which I visited from there.