Croatiablog: Gradec

On Saturday we walked through Gradec, the old part of the city above and west of the market. Gradec and its rival Kaptol, on other other side of the market, fought for years until the Habsburgs took over in the 16th C. The easiest way to get to Gradec is by the funicular, reported to be the shortest in Europe.

At the top of the funicular is Lutrscak (Burglar's) Tower. It is one of the last remnants of the city's medieval fortifications. Originally the tower's bells were rung to call the townspeople back at the end of the day, after which the gates were locked to keep out the burglars. Today there is a cannon in the tower that is fired everyday at noon. There are several urban legends about the cannon firing, like it marks the successful defense of the city from the Ottomans, but they are probably just that. It is more likely that these stories were concocted in the 19th C to hype the tourist trade.

St Mark's church is a short walk from the tower. Entry into the church was blocked due to some renovations but its most striking feature is its multicolored, tile roof, which has the seals of Croatia (left) and Zagreb (right) on it.

The church is flanked on the east side of the square by the Croatian Parliament (Sabor) building, in which they voted for independence in 1918 and 1991. From there we walked to the Stone Gate which connects the upper and lower parts of the city.

Stone Gate

The gate houses a small chapel containing a portrait of the Virgina Mary which miraculously survived a fire in 1731. Believers come there to ask the Virgin for help and, if they get it, put a small commemorative plaque on the wall.

The Naive Art Museum was the real star of the walk. The naive movement started in the 1930's, when Krsto Hegedusic, a Croatian artist classically trained in Paris, discovered Ivan Generalic in the small village of Hlebine. The styles of these untrained artists vary from the surrealistic to the fanciful. Most of the paintings depict rural life, many of them winter scenes, because the painters had to work the rest of the year. Many of them also painted with oil on glass because it was cheaper that canvas.