Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
overran Europe, they never managed to take Zagreb, but the threat was enough to scare the
nobility into the countryside. When the Ottomans left, the nobles came back, and they re-
placed the medieval buildings here with Baroque mansions.
At the first square, to the right, you'll see the Jesuit Church of St. Catherine. It's not
much tolookat fromthe outside, butthe interior isintricately decorated—bubbly pink-and-
white Baroque, dripping with stucco (only open to visitors during Mass). The same applies
toseveralmansionsonGradec.Thissimple-outside,ornate-insidestyleisknownas“Zagreb
Baroque.”
As you continue up the street, notice the old-timey street signs, holdovers from the
Austro-Hungarian era: in both Croatian (Gospodzka ulicza) and German (Herren Gasse).
Fromhere,you'reafewstepsfromZagreb'stwomostinterestingmuseums:Ontheright
is the Museum of Broken Relationships, and a few steps down on the left is the Croatian
Museum of Naive Art (both listed later, under “Sights in Zagreb”). Now's the time to visit
these, before continuing on our walk.
In the next block, on the left, is the yellow “city parliament” building (basically the
Town Hall, and a popular place for weddings on summer Saturdays). To the left of the door,
look for the plaque honoring Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), the prominent scientist who cham-
pioned alternating current (AC) as a better electrical system than Thomas Edison's direct
current (DC). Although Tesla was an ethnic Serb (his father was an Orthodox priest), he
was born in a remote village in central Croatia, so both Serbs and Croats claim him. (Today,
Tesla is a rare figure who is revered both in Zagreb and in Belgrade.) This plaque proudly
trumpets that on May 24, 1892, Tesla came to this building and suggested that Zagreb be-
comethefirstcityintheworldtobuildanACpowerstation.Buttheplaquefailstomention
thatthecityparliament rejected thissuggestion...soTeslawenttotheUS,wherehesuccess-
fully pitched the same idea to Buffalo, New York.
While Zagreb eventually did adopt AC, this part of town still clings to a much, much
olderformoflighting.Flankingthedoorsofthecityparliamentaretwoofthe217old-fash-
ioned gaslights that still illuminate Gradec. These are lit and extinguished each day by two
city employees. Notice that each lamp is numbered.
At the end of the block, you'll come to St. Mark's Square (Markov trg), centered on
the Church of St. Mark. The original church here was from the 13th century, but only a
few fragments remain. The present church's colorful tile roof, from 1880, depicts two coats
of arms. On the left, the red-and-white checkerboard symbolizes north-central Croatia, the
threelions'headsstandfortheDalmatianCoast,andthemarten( kuna, likethemoney)run-
ning between the two rivers (Sava and Drava) represents Slavonia—Croatia's northern, in-
land panhandle. On the right is the seal of Zagreb, featuring a walled city.
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