Tourism with the famous colourful roof representing the coat of arms of the
Triune Kingdom of
Croatia,
Dalmatia and
Slavonia (left), and the City of Zagreb (right)|left Zagreb is an important tourist centre, not only in terms of passengers travelling from the rest of Europe to the Adriatic Sea but also as a travel destination itself. Since the end of the
war, it has attracted close to a million visitors annually, mainly from Austria, Germany, and Italy, and in recent years many tourists from far east (South Korea, Japan, China, and last two years, from India). Due to its location and tourism boom during
Austria-Hungary, Zagreb saw an increase in need of accommodation, therefore the first registered hotel,
Palace Hotel was built in 1907. Today it is an important tourist destination, not only in Croatia, but considering the whole region of southeastern Europe. There are many interesting sights and happenings for tourists to attend in Zagreb, for example, the two statues of Saint George, one at the
Republic of Croatia Square, the other at the
Stone Gate, where the image of the Virgin Mary is said to be the only thing that did not burn in the 17th-century fire. Also, there is an art installation starting in the Bogovićeva Street, called
Nine Views. Zagreb is also famous for its award-winning
Christmas market that had been named the one in Europe for three consecutive years (2015, 2016 and 2017) by
European Best Destinations. The capital is also known for its many restaurants that serve not only traditional
Croatian food and classic dishes. In addition to that, a lot of
international hotel chains are offering their accommodations in Zagreb. The historical part of the city to the north of
Ban Jelačić Square is composed of the
Gornji Grad and
Kaptol, a medieval urban complex of churches, palaces, museums, galleries and government buildings that are popular with tourists on sightseeing tours. The historic district can be reached on foot, starting from the Ban Jelačić Square, the centre of Zagreb, or by a
funicular on nearby Tomićeva Street. Each Saturday, (from April until the end of September), on
St. Mark's Square in the Upper Town, tourists can meet members of the Order of The Silver Dragon (
Red Srebrnog Zmaja), who reenact famous historical conflicts between
Gradec and
Kaptol. Some famous Zagreb souvenirs are the
tie or
cravat, an accessory named after Croats who wore characteristic scarves around their necks in the
Thirty Years' War in the 17th century, and the
ball-point pen, a tool developed from the inventions by
Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, an inventor and a citizen of Zagreb. In 2010 more than 600,000 tourists visited the city, with a 10% increase seen in 2011. In 2012 a total of 675,707 tourists visited the city. A record number of tourists visited Zagreb in 2017, 1,286,087, up 16% compared to the year before, which generated 2,263,758 overnight stays, up 14.8%.
Gastronomy Domestic dishes include
turkey,
duck or
goose with
mlinci (flat pasta, soaked in roast juices), famous z
agrebački odrezak (type of
cordon bleu),
faširanci (fried minced meat mixed with onions and bread crumbs), and
sarma (
sauerkraut rolls filed with minced pork meat and rice, served with
mashed potato).
Strudel dishes include
štrukli, cottage cheese strudels, and
bučnica, a strudel with pumpkin or other fillings (dependent on the region). Cottage cheese with cream is a side dish that is eaten for breakfast. Desserts include
kremšnite, custard slices in flaky pastry, and
orehnjača, traditional
walnut rolls.
Licitar, often called ''licitar's heart'', is a colorfully decorated biscuit made of sweet honey dough, written across with poems, traditional names or citations. Some are made out of permanent materials to be sold as souvenirs. Zagreb is home to two
Michelin star restaurants. Many restaurants offer various specialties of
national and
international cuisine. Bakeries sell regional pastries like
burek, strudels and
pies. "Pečenjara" are restaurants specialized in serving grilled meats such as
ćevapi,
patties and lamb. “Špica” refers to a coffee break with friends at
cafes in the city centre, and is usually paired with dressing well. It is busiest on Saturdays around noon, when many “celebrities” can be seen walking in the city centre.
Cultural institutions Zagreb's museums reflect the history, art, and culture not only of Zagreb and Croatia, but also of Europe and the world. Around thirty collections in museums and galleries comprise more than 3.6 million various exhibits, excluding church and private collections. The
Archaeological Museum collections, today consisting of nearly 450,000 varied
archaeological artefacts and monuments, have been gathered over the years from many different sources. These holdings include evidence of Croatian presence in the area. The most famous are the Egyptian collection, the
Zagreb mummy and bandages with the oldest
Etruscan inscription in the world (
Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis), as well as the
numismatic collection. The
Modern Gallery () holds the most important and comprehensive collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings by 19th- and 20th-century Croatian artists. The collection numbers more than 10,000 works of art, housed since 1934 in the historic Vranyczany Palace in the centre of Zagreb, overlooking the Zrinjevac Park. A secondary gallery is the Josip Račić Studio. The
Croatian Natural History Museum holds one of the world's most important collections of
Neanderthal remains found at one site. These are the remains, stone weapons, and tools of prehistoric
Krapina man. The holdings of the Croatian Natural History Museum comprise more than 250,000 specimens distributed among various collections. The
Technical Museum was founded in 1954 and it maintains the oldest preserved machine in the area, dating from 1830, which is still operational. The museum exhibits numerous historic aircraft, cars, machinery and equipment. There are some distinct sections in the museum: the Planetarium, the Apisarium, the Mine (model of mines for coal, iron and
non-ferrous metals, about long), and the
Nikola Tesla study. The
Museum of the City of Zagreb was established in 1907 by the Association of the Braća Hrvatskog Zmaja. It is located in a restored monumental complex (Popov toranj, the Observatory, Zakmardi Granary) of the former Convent of the
Poor Clares, of 1650. The Museum deals with topics from the cultural, artistic, economic and
political history of the city spanning from Roman finds to the
modern period. The holdings comprise over 80,000 items arranged systematically into collections of artistic and mundane objects characteristic of the city and its history. The
Arts and Crafts Museum was founded in 1880 with the intention of preserving the works of art and craft against the new predominance of industrial products. With its 160,000 exhibits, the Arts and Crafts Museum is a national-level museum for artistic production and the history of
material culture in Croatia. The
Ethnographic Museum was founded in 1919. It lies in the fine Secession building of the one-time Trades Hall of 1903. The ample holdings of about 80,000 items cover the ethnographic heritage of Croatia, classified in three cultural zones: the Pannonian, Dinaric and Adriatic. The
Mimara Museum an
art museum, that was founded with a donation from
Ante Topić Mimara and opened to the public in 1987. It is located in a late 19th-century
neo-Renaissance palace. The holdings comprise 3,750 works of art of various techniques and materials, and different cultures and civilizations, including paintings from great European masters like:
Rubens,
Velázquez,
Renoir,
Goya,
Hieronymus Bosch,
Veronese,
Manet,
Degas,
van Dyck and many others. The
Croatian Museum of Naïve Art is one of the first museums of
naïve art in the world. The museum holds works of Croatian naïve expression of the 20th century. It is located in the 18th-century Raffay Palace in the
Gornji Grad. The museum holdings consist of almost 2000 works of art – paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints, mainly by Croatians but also by other well-known world artists. From time to time, the museum organizes topics and retrospective exhibitions by naïve artists, expert meetings and educational workshops and playrooms. The
Museum of Contemporary Art was founded in 1954. Its new building hosts a rich collection of Croatian and international contemporary visual art which has been collected throughout the decades from the nineteen-fifties until today. The museum is located in the centre of
Novi Zagreb and opened in 2009. The old location is now part of the Kulmer Palace in the
Gornji Grad. The Institute for Contemporary Art (
Institut za suvremenu umjetnost), successor to the Soros Center for Contemporary Art – Zagreb (SCCA – Zagreb), was founded in 1993, and registered as an independent nonprofit organization in 1998. It was founded and run by
art historians, curators, artists, photographers, designers, publishers, academics, and journalists, and initially located at the Museum of Contemporary Art. After moving a number of times, the institute has a gallery at the Academia Moderna. Its aims are to promote contemporary Croatian artists and the
visual and other creative arts; to start documenting contemporary artists; and to build a body of contemporary art. It established the Radoslav Putar Award in 2002. The
Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters offers permanent holdings presenting European paintings from the 14th to 19th centuries, and the
Ivan Meštrović Studio, with sculptures, drawings, lithography portfolios and other items, was a donation of this great artist to his homeland. The Museum and Gallery Center introduces on various occasions the Croatian and foreign cultural and artistic heritage. The
Art Pavilion by Viennese architects Hellmer and Fellmer who were the most famous designers of theatres in Central Europe is a
neo-classical exhibition complex and one of the landmarks of the downtown. The exhibitions are also held in the Meštrović building on the
Square of the Victims of Fascism – the Home of Croatian Fine Artists. The World Center "Wonder of Croatian Naïve Art" exhibits masterpieces of Croatian naïve art as well as the works of a new generation of artists. The Modern Gallery comprises all relevant fine artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. The
Museum of Broken Relationships at 2 Ćirilometodska holds people's mementos of past relationships. It is the first private museum in the country.
Lauba House presents works from the
Filip Trade Collection, a large private collection of modern and contemporary Croatian art and current artistic production.
Other museums and galleries are also found in the Croatian School Museum, the Croatian Hunting Museum, the Croatian Sports Museum, the Croatian Post and Telecommunications Museum, the HAZU (
Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts) Glyptotheque (collection of monuments), and the HAZU Graphics Cabinet. There are five
castles in Zagreb: Dvorac Brezovica, Kašina (Castrum antiquum Paganorum), Medvedgrad, Susedgrad and Kulmerovi dvori.
Zagreb Zoo is a 7-hectare
zoo located in
Maksimir Park opened in 1925. It holds 6754 animals from more than 370 species from all around the world, and is the most visited zoo in Croatia with almost half of million visitors in 2023.
Events Zagreb has hosted some of the most popular mainstream musical artists in recent years, including those of
Queen,
Rolling Stones,
U2,
Guns N' Roses,
Eric Clapton,
Deep Purple,
Bob Dylan,
David Bowie,
Elton John,
Roger Waters,
Depeche Mode,
Prodigy,
Beyoncé,
Lady Gaga,
Britney Spears,
Ed Sheeran,
Justin Bieber,
Shakira,
Nick Cave,
Jamiroquai,
George Michael,
Sade,
Sting,
Rod Stewart,
Eros Ramazzotti,
Manu Chao,
Massive Attack,
Andrea Bocelli,
Metallica,
50 Cent,
Snoop Dogg,
Duran Duran as well as some of world most recognised underground artists such as
Dimmu Borgir,
Sepultura,
Melvins,
Mastodon and more. Zagreb is also the home of the
INmusic festival, one of the biggest open-air festivals in Croatia which is held every year, usually at the end of June, hosting a lot of big names like
Hozier,
Lily Allen,
Arctic Monkeys,
Rokia Traoré,
Anthrax and many more. There is also the Zagreb Jazz Festival which has featured popular jazz artists like
Pat Metheny or
Sonny Rollins. Many other festivals occur in Zagreb like Žedno uho featuring indie, rock, metal and electronica artists such as
Animal Collective,
Melvins,
Butthole Surfers,
Crippled Black Phoenix,
NoMeansNo,
The National,
Mark Lanegan,
Swans,
Mudhoney around the clubs and concert halls of Zagreb.
Performing arts There are about 20 permanent or seasonal theatres and stages. The
Croatian National Theater in Zagreb was built in 1895 and opened by emperor
Franz Joseph I of Austria. The most renowned
concert hall named "
Vatroslav Lisinski", after the
composer of the first Croatian opera, was built in 1973. The
World Theatre Festival and
International Puppet Festival both take place in Zagreb in September and October.
Animafest, the World Festival of
Animated Films, takes place every even-numbered year, and the
Music Biennale, the international festival of
avant-garde music, every odd-numbered year. It also hosts the annual
ZagrebDox documentary film festival. The
Festival of the Zagreb Philharmonic and the flowers exhibition
Floraart (end of May or beginning of June), the
Old-timer Rally annual events. In the summer, theatre performances and concerts, mostly in the Upper Town, are organized either indoors or outdoors. The stage on Opatovina hosts the
Zagreb Histrionic Summer theatre events. Zagreb is also the host of
Zagrebfest, the oldest Croatian
pop-music festival, as well as of several traditional international sports events and tournaments. The
Day of the City of Zagreb on 16 November is celebrated every year with special festivities, especially on the
Jarun lake in the southwestern part of the city.
Recreation and sports Parks Zagreb is home to numerous sports and recreational parks. Recreational Sports Center Jarun, situated on the Jarun Lake in the southwest of the city, has shingle beaches, a
regatta course used for training and sports competitions, a
jogging and a bike lane around the lake, and several restaurants and
night clubs. Its sports and recreation opportunities include swimming, sunbathing, waterskiing, angling, and other
water sports, for which it is most popular, but also
beach volleyball, football, basketball, handball, table tennis, and
mini-golf. To the east in
Novi Zagreb lays
Bundek, a park with two small lakes near the Sava river, which were created in the 60s because of heavy excavations in the area, from which the material was used to build the
Zagreb Fair and the Youth Bridge. The location had then been used until the 1970s, when it went into neglect until its complete renovation in 2006. In the north-east is
Maksimir Park, an urban forest that was gifted to the city by bishop
Maksimilijan Vrhovac. Because of its many meadows and lakes, which are well connected by a series of pathways, it is a popular place for walking, running and cycling.
Sports In northern
Trešnjevka lays
Dom sportova, a sports centre that features six halls, of which the largest two have a seating capacity of 5,000 and 3,100 people. This centre is used for various sports: basketball, handball, volleyball, hockey, gymnastics, tennis, and others, as well as music events.
Sports Park Mladost, situated on the embankment of the Sava river, has an
Olympic-size swimming pool, smaller indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a sunbathing terrace, 16 tennis courts as well as
basketball,
volleyball,
handball,
football and
field hockey courts. A volleyball sports hall is within the park. Sports and recreational centre "Šalata", located in the neighborhood
Šalata only a couple hundred meters from the
Ban Jelačić Square, includes nine
tennis courts, four of which are covered in the winter to protect from the cold, as well as swimming pools which are open during the summer, basketball courts and football fields. Many of the fields are used by sports clubs. Outdoor
ice skating is available during the winter. Maksimir Tennis Center, located in the neighborhood of
Ravnice, east of
downtown, consists of 22 outside and 4 inside tennis courts, and one
squash court. There are currently seven pool complexes across the city. Since the city doesn't have many skate parks, skaters can only skate in a few locations in Zagreb, them being
Jarun,
Špansko and
Vrapče (which is a DIY skate park built by volunteers).
Zagreb Hippodrome offers recreational
horseback riding and
horse races, able to house 175 horses. It has been used for mass gatherings and concerts.
Arena Zagreb is the main and the biggest arena in the city, with a total of 16,500 seats. It hosted the
2009 World Men's Handball Championship. The
Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall is the home arena of
Cibona, one of the main basketball clubs in the city, with a seating capacity of 5017 people. It is located next to the tall
Cibona Tower. The 35,123-seat
Maksimir Stadium is the largest stadium in the city and home to
Dinamo Zagreb. Opened in 1912, it has undergone many transformations, but was never completely finished. The stadium is located next to the Svetice Recreational and Sports Complex and Maksimir Park. Some of the most notable sport clubs in Zagreb are:
GNK Dinamo Zagreb,
KHL Medveščak Zagreb,
RK Zagreb,
KK Cibona,
KK Zagreb,
KK Cedevita,
NK Zagreb,
HAVK Mladost and others.
Religion The
Archdiocese of Zagreb is a
metropolitan see of the
Catholic Church in Croatia, serving as its religious centre. The Archbishop is
Dražen Kutleša. The Catholic Church is the largest religious organization in Zagreb, Catholicism being the predominant religion of Croatia, with over 1,1 million adherents. Zagreb is also the
episcopal see of the
Metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana of the
Serbian Orthodox Church.
Islamic religious organization of Croatia has the see in Zagreb. President is Mufti Aziz Hasanović. There used to be a mosque in the
Meštrović Pavilion during
World War II at the
Square of the Victims of Fascism, but it was relocated to the neighborhood of Borovje in
Peščenica. Mainstream Protestant churches have also been present in Zagreb –
Evangelical Church and Reformed Christian (Calvinist) Church.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is also present in the Zagreb neighborhood of
Jarun whereas
Jehovah's Witnesses have their headquarters in Central Zagreb. In total there are around 40 non-Catholic religious organizations and denominations in Zagreb with their headquarters and places of worship across the city making it a large and diverse multicultural community. There is also significant
Jewish history through
the Holocaust. == Economy ==