Zagreb is a big Croatian tourist centre, not only in terms of transit from
West and Central Europe to the Adriatic Sea but also as a tourist destination.
The city with a tradition of almost one thousand years celebrated in 1994 its
900th birthday. Zagreb is not only rich in cultural and historical monuments,
museums and galleries, it also has a variety of modern shops, and offers good
quality of diversified restaurants as well as sports and recreation facilities.
It is a big centre of congress tourism, economic and business events and trade
fairs not only in Croatia but also in this part of Europe. Being an important
junction point, it has road, air, railway and bus connections with European
metropolises and all bigger cities and tourist resorts in Croatia.
Zagreb has rich civil and cultural heritage, dating from the -----pre-historic
period (Veternica Cave, Palaeolithic) and archaeological finds of the Roman
culture (scitarjevo) up to the present. The historical part of the town, the
Upper Town and Kaptol are a unique urban core even in European terms, and thus
represent the target of sightseeing tours. The old town, its streets and squares
can be reached on foot, starting from Ban Josip Jelacic Square, the central
part and the heart of Zagreb, or by a funicular in the nearby Tomiceva Street.
The old core of the town includes many famous buildings, churches, museums and
institutions as well as pleasant restaurants and coffee bars.
Zagreb the capital of Croatia, -situated on the slopes of Medvednica Mountain
(Zagrebacka Gora) and along the banks of the Sava river; elevation 120 m; population
706,770. The favourable geographic position in the south-western part of the
Pannonian Basin which extends to the Alpine, Dinaric, Adriatic and Pannonic
regions, provides the best valuation of traffic connection between Central Europe
and the Adriatic Sea. The city core comprises the mediaeval parts of the town
called Gradec (Gric) and Kaptol. The construction of the railway embankment
(1860) enabled the old suburbs, which did not represent an urban whole up to
then, to merge gradually into Donji Grad, characterized by a regular block pattern.
Between the two World Wars working-class quarters emerged between the railway
and the Sava, and residential quarters on the hills of the southern slopes of
Medvednica. The blocks between the railway and the Sava were built after the
Second World War, and from the mid-1950s new residential areas south of the
Sava river, the so-called Novi Zagreb (New Zagreb). The cargo railway hub and
the international airport Pleso were built south of the Sava. The biggest industrial
zone (Zitnjak) in the south-east represents an extension of the industrial zones
on the western and eastern outskirts of the city, between the Sava and the Prigorje
region. Urbanized lines of settlements connect Zagreb with the centres in its
surroundings: Sesvete, Zapresic, Samobor, Dugo Selo and Velika Gorica. The traffic
position, concentration of industry (metal-processing, electrical appliances,
textiles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, printing and leather industries, wood
processing, paper etc.), scientific and research institutions and industrial
tradition underlie its leading economic position. Zagreb seats central state
administrative bodies (legislative, judiciary, executive, monetary, defence,
health care, cultural, educational, traffic, etc.). There are three main traffic
communications: the western, towards Ljubljana, i.e. West Europe; the eastern,
towards South-eastern Europe and the Near East; the south-western, towards Rijeka,
Croatia's biggest port. The railway running along the Sutla river and the Zagorje
main road (Zagreb - Maribor - Vienna), as well as traffic connections with the
Pannonian region and Hungary (the Zagorje railroad, the roads and railway to
Varazdin and Koprivnica) are linked with the trunk routes. The railway connection
with Bosnia and Herzegovina, along the Una valley to Split, is currently out
of use due to thewar damage.
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