More of Zagreb – top attractions

I’m the kind of tourist that likes to create little stars on Google Maps to signal where the main landmarks are. Whether these are museums, parks, churches and other historical, recreational buildings. I will visit what interests me in the end. And, if I have some free time, and I have a little more energy in my body, I may go and take a look at the rest.

What I really liked about the city was its ambience. The streets, the art, the quirkiness. The food. As you can see in my previous post, the Street Art scene is fantastic. This post though is to tell you about those “must-sees” that you typically find whenever you search for a destination.

The Church of St. Mark is definitely one of my favourites and it’s no surprise that it is one of Zagreb’s most emblematic buildings. Its colourful tiled roof has the medieval coat of arms of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia on the left side and, on the right side, you can see the emblem of Zagreb (even though there never was such a thing as a white castle in Zagreb…but it was a way for the enemy to fear them).

Its colourful tiled roof, constructed in 1880, has the medieval coat of arms of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia on the left side, and the emblem of Zagreb on the right.

Unfortunately, you can’t go much closer to the church. It is surrounded by government building and, a couple years ago, there was a shooting in the area -a man shot a policeman. Even though this ended up being a personal vendetta (it seems the policeman had “stolen” this guy’s girlfriend…), it was seen as an attack of terrorism. As a result, you’re not allowed within the premises. I took the below photo of the church at night.

The Cathedral of Zagreb is the tallest building in all of Croatia. Its exceptional Gothic style has been somehow damaged by the Earthquake of 2020, and one of the towers had to be removed, being currently in retoration.

The Art Pavilion of Zagreb is another beautiful building surrounded by an extensive green space. It is great to simple sit in the fresh grass and relax after a long day of walking (my body appreciated the rest and the view). Unfortunately, I did not visit the museum .

I will have a separate post telling about the Botanical Gardens of Zagreb, where this red pavillion sits. It was closed when visited, but I presume it often has exhibitions on botanicals. I find it beautiful, like it came out of a Wes Anderson movie.

When I found out the below building are the headquarters of Croatian Railways I could not believe it. It stands right in front of a 5 star hotel, in a very wealthy part of the city of Zagreb. It may not be an attraction for itself, but the building is simply stunning.

The below shot is from the inside of Medieval stone gate into town with a Virgin Mary shrine popular for prayer & candle lighting. The legend says that many years ago a huge fire destroyed the whole city, but a painting of Mary with baby Jesus survived the flames in this place. Since then, locals come here to light a candle and ask for help. These different tiles have the word Hvala (thank you in Croatian).

The Tunnel Grič was actually closed for most of my time in Zagreb, and I found it open as I was leaving the city. I had the time to take this quick photo, but I would have loved to take a walk through it. It was built as a bomb shelter in 1943, but now it often holds exhibitions, concerts and other events for the citizens and visitors of Zagreb.

I’ll be posting more about Zagreb in the next few days, but please check out my gallery of the streets of the city that I personally think to reflect the true vibes from the city – its vibrance and picturesque architecture.

Love, Nic