Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
vibrant new nation. This is also apopular place foranykindofspecial event intown—from
concerts and sporting events, to folk festivals, to protests and rallies. The city's busy pedes-
trian scene, sense of style, and utter lack of tourists make it arguably Croatia's best people-
watching destination.
It's hard to believe that this frenetic Donji Grad (“lower town”) once held the
townspeople's farm fields. Our walk takes you from here up to two towns—Gradec and
Kaptol—that merged in 1850 to become the city of Zagreb. At that time, it was a small set-
tlementofabout16,000people.ButundertheauspicesoftheAustro-HungarianEmpire,the
newlyunitedZagrebbegantoindustrializeandgrowlikemad.Theseformerfieldssprouted
aristocratic villas as well as low-rent housing for factory workers.
Today, the square features a prominent equestrian statue of national hero
Josip Jela
č
i
ć
(YOH-seep YEH-lah-cheech, 1801-1859), a 19th-century governor who extended citizens'
rights and did much to unite the Croats within the Habsburg Empire. In Jela
č
i
ć
's time, the
HungarianswereexertingextensivecontroloverCroatia,eventryingtomakeHungarianthe
official language. Meanwhile, Budapesters revolted against Habsburg rule in 1848. Jela
č
i
ć
,
evermindfuloftheneedtoprotectCroatianculturalautonomy,knewthathe'dhaveabetter
