Two medieval hill towns that spent centuries at war, walkable end to end in an hour.
Zagreb began as two towns on two neighbouring hills, separated by a stream, and they did not get on.
Kaptol, the eastern hill, was the bishop’s. Founded with the diocese in 1094, walled, with the cathedral at its centre.
Gradec, the western hill, was the burghers’. Granted the status of a free royal city by the Golden Bull of Béla IV in 1242, in gratitude for shelter during the Mongol invasion, which gave it self-government and freedom from feudal dues.
They fought — properly, with weapons — over mills, land and tolls, most bitterly in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The bridge over the stream between them was the Bloody Bridge.
They were united into one city only in 1850.
Walking it
The natural route, taking about two hours with stops:
Up the funicular from Tomićeva, and time it for the noon cannon at Lotrščak Tower.
Along the Strossmayer promenade, past the bench with the bronze poet on it.
St Mark’s Church and its square, with the parliament and the government building.
The Museum of Broken Relationships and the Croatian Museum of Naive Art, thirty seconds apart on Ćirilometodska.
Also up here: the Croatian History Museum, the Zagreb City Museum in a former convent, the Meštrović Atelier in the sculptor’s own house, and the Museum of Illusions, which is fine and is not why you came to Croatia.
Out through the Stone Gate, down Radićeva, and into Tkalčićeva.
Then up the steps at the far end to Dolac and the cathedral on Kaptol.
The gas lamps
Around 200 gas lamps survive in Gornji Grad and they are lit and extinguished by hand, every day, by a lamplighter employed for the purpose.
He starts at dusk and takes about two hours. Following him for a while is free, slightly strange, and the best thing in Zagreb after dark.
The state of it
Much of the Upper Town is still shored up after the March 2020 earthquake. Scaffolding, propped facades, netting, and buildings closed.
It has not stopped the streets working, and Zagreb has got on with it. But it changes what the neighbourhood looks like, and if you have seen photographs from 2019 you should expect something different.
Practical
Free to walk, and small — the whole of Gradec is about 500 metres across.
Cobbles and steps throughout. The Grič Tunnel is the step-free route between the levels.
Quietest early morning. Busiest between eleven and four.
