Zagreb

Zagreb is the capital city of Croatia.

It sits by a river called the Sava. A mountain called Medvednica stands to the north. Blue trams run along the streets.

Zagreb is the capital of Croatia and home to the country's parliament, government and president. The Zagreb Tourist Board calls it Croatia's cultural, scientific, economic and political center.

The city spreads across a plain beside the Sava River, with the mountain of Medvednica rising to the north and shielding it from cold northern winds. Croatia's 2021 census counted 767,131 people in the City of Zagreb, a little fewer than the 790,017 counted in 2011.

Zagreb is the seat of Croatia's parliament, government and president. The Zagreb Tourist Board places it on the threshold between the Pannonian plain, the edge of the Alps and the Dinaric range, a position that made it a crossing point for travel and trade.

The Croatian Bureau of Statistics' census of 31 August 2021 counted 767,131 people in the City of Zagreb, down from 790,017 in 2011. Blue is the city's color: it appears on the coat of arms and on Zagreb's trams, buses and funicular.

Zagreb has an old white tower on a hill. Every day at noon, a cannon in the tower goes BOOM. It is not loaded, so it only makes a loud noise and a puff of smoke.

Nearby is a market where farmers sell fresh food every day.

In the Upper Town, the old town of Gradec, stands Lotrščak Tower, built in the 1200s to guard a gate in the town walls. Since 1 January 1877 a cannon has been fired from it every day at noon. It is never loaded: it just makes a boom and a puff of white smoke.

On the other hill, Kaptol, rises the neo-Gothic Zagreb Cathedral. Below the two hills is Ban Jelačić Square, the city's main square, and close to the cathedral is Dolac, Zagreb's best-known market, where producers sell fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and fish every day.

Lotrščak Tower, built in the 13th century, guarded an entrance to Gradec when it was still a separate walled town. Since 1 January 1877 the Grič cannon on its fourth floor has been fired at noon, originally as a signal for the church bells across Zagreb to ring midday; it has fallen silent only during the First World War and after the 2020 earthquake.

Zagreb Cathedral on Kaptol dominates the skyline in the neo-Gothic style; its two spires were part of Hermann Bollé's reconstruction. The earthquake of 22 March 2020 damaged the cathedral, and on 17 April 2020 part of the north spire, about 30 tonnes at a height of 120 m, was removed for safety. Between the hills lies Ban Jelačić Square, which grew from a trading area below the two settlements, and nearby Dolac, the best-known of the city's open-air food markets, where producers sell fresh food daily.

Zagreb's trams are painted blue.

A funny little train called a funicular pulls people up a steep hill. The ride takes only about one minute!

Zagreb's first trams were pulled by horses, starting on 5 September 1891. Electric trams took over from 18 August 1910. The city's trams, buses and funicular are painted blue, Zagreb's color.

The funicular is a little railway car pulled up a steep slope. It opened on 8 October 1890 and climbs from the Lower Town to the Upper Town, beside Lotrščak Tower, in about a minute. Its track is only 66 meters long, making it one of the shortest in the world. After a 16-month renovation, it reopened in May 2026.

ZET, the city's transport company, dates organized public transport to 5 September 1891, when a horse-drawn tram service began. The first electric tramcar ran on 18 August 1910, and within a year electric trams had replaced the horse cars; buses followed in 1931.

The funicular (uspinjača), opened on 8 October 1890, is Zagreb's oldest means of public transport. Its 66 m track rises at a gradient of up to 52 percent from Tomićeva Street to the Upper Town beside Lotrščak Tower in about a minute. It ran on steam until it was electrified in 1934. Croatian public broadcaster HRT calls it the shortest funicular of its kind in the world; it reopened on 19 May 2026 after a 16-month, roughly 9-million-euro renovation.

Zagreb has many parks and green squares.

It has a big park with a zoo. A mountain close to the city is a good place for outings.

The Lower Town has a U-shaped chain of eight green squares called the Green Horseshoe, with parks, fountains and important buildings such as the main railway station and the National Theatre. In the east of the city is Maksimir, Zagreb's biggest park, where a zoo opened in the first half of the 1900s.

An engineer named Eduard Slavoljub Penkala made his inventions in Zagreb: he patented a mechanical pencil in 1906 and a fountain pen in 1907. Just north of the city, Sljeme, the highest peak of Medvednica at 1,035 meters, is a favorite place for outings.

The Green Horseshoe, a U-shaped line of eight green squares created by Lenuci in the 19th century, forms the axis of the Lower Town and holds the main railway station, the Academy of Sciences and Arts, the University Library and the National Theatre. Maksimir, the city's largest park, was landscaped in the English style in the 19th century and later gained a zoo; the Botanical Garden holds some 10,000 plant varieties.

Engineer Eduard Slavoljub Penkala patented a mechanical pencil in 1906 and a fountain pen in 1907, producing them in Zagreb for export. Jarun, once a branch of the Sava, became a lake and recreation center for the 1987 University Games. Sljeme (1,035 m), the summit of Medvednica, lies about half an hour from the main square.