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Uday K. Chakraborty
recalls his visit to the Croatian capital
When one arrives Zagreb by train, the station building with the statue of King Tomislav riding a horse gives an excellent first view of the city. Beyond this is the magnificent Baroque art pavilion. In between is a lush park with fountains and flowers from where one can appreciate the superb classical architecture of the station building. The park is one of the eight famous parks of this Croatian capital that go from the railway station area down to the town centre. They are known as the Lennuca's Horseshoe because of the shape they form together. There are a few cities in the world in which parks and gardens are so intermeshed with the streets as in Zagreb. The Zrinjevac park is a shady place to rest. The museums surrounding it give an insight into the Croatian and world history and art. Their exhibits of particular rarity are the Zagreb mummy, with the world's longest text in Etrusean, and the remains of the Neanderthal pre-historic man. The rulers till the Yugoslavian era built it as a major European city of art and culture while retaining its historic flavour. The city of Zagreb can be divided into three parts: the upper town comprising the Kaptol and Gradec area, the oldest part of Zagreb dating back from the Medieval Age; the lower town, with many buildings from the 13th century and new Zagreb, built since World War II, stark and square. The upper and lower town have been protected as national monuments. Kaptol is the centre of the Catholic Church in Croatia; Gradec, with parliament, is the base for the government of Croatia and the lower town is the business and cultural heart of the contemporary Zagreb. The strongest beat of Zagreb's big and warm heart can be felt in the city's main square - Trgban Joshipa Jelacica in the lower town street. Music, flower stalls and a feeling of light-heartedness are part of the everyday life here. The equestrian statue of the national hero Ban Jelacic, with a sword in his hand, dominates the square. It is surrounded by old buildings, each with its own character and history and many well-known coffee houses. One side of the square borders on Ilica, Zagreb's longest road. It is a veritable jumble of many things - clanking tramcars and ornamental streetlights, shop windows and restaurants, cafes and ice-cream parlours, and people, always people without which Ilica would not be what it is. The past and the present are seldom so united as it is in the St. Marks Square in the centre of the upper town. St. Mark's church dominates the square. Its colourful roof tiles form the Croatian, Dalmatian and Slavonian coat of Arms on the left side and on the right that of the city of Zagreb. The square also houses Croatian parliament and other government offices in period buildings. Zagreb's church and cathedral's are a must in any tour of the city, and so are its cultural landmarks. The St. Stephen's Cathedral and Bishop's palace, an impressive example of neo-gothic architecture, is the largest ecclesiastical building in the Republic of Croatia. It has an intricate stonework towers, which are more than 300 feet high, and thick fortification around it. Just a little ahead is the Stone Gate, a 17th century reconstruction of the medieval gate and the small Chapel of the Virgin of the Stone Gate - Patron Saint of the city. But, the bustle of the lower town beckons me one. Walking south of the Ban Jelacic Square, just beyond the Mandusevac wishing well, one comes across the magnificent neo-gothic building of the Croatian national theatre where artistic vision has lived for more than a century. Following the tram track towards the north, one reaches the monumental cemetery of Mirogoj. The Mirogoj cemetery exhibits the unique harmony of the architecture of the arcades. The artistically designed mausoleums and tombs, and well laid out grounds, is a magnificent ensemble. Zagreb has hundreds of such interesting corners with their own stories to be discovered gradually. |
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