The capital and largest city of Croatia is Zagreb. It is the country's center of both culture and industry. The city stands on the slopes of the Medvednica Mountains and the Sava River floodplain. To the north of the mountains is the Zagorje region of woodlands, vineyards, villages, and ancient castles.

Places of interest

Gradec, or the fortress, is among the notable old sites of Zagreb. The city's landmarks include the Gothic-style Church of St. Marcus, the Baroque Church of St. Catherine, the palaces of Zrinski and Orsic, a former Jesuit monastery, and the neoclassical Draskovic Palace. The city also houses the Gothic Cathedral of St. Stephen, dating back to the 13th to 15th centuries. The cathedral was restored at the end of the 19th century. Near the cathedral is the baroque palace of the archbishops of Zagreb, with a chapel of St. Stephen. The city also has many open squares and parks.

Zagreb is the seat of the Academy of Sciences and Arts. The University of Zagreb was founded in 1669. Several art galleries have both old and modern collections. There are also academies of art, theater, and music. The Croatian National Theater is housed in a neo-baroque building in the city.

Economy

Zagreb is the main industrial center of Croatia. The city produces heavy machinery, rolling stock, electrical and metal consumer products, cement, textiles, footwear, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, paper and newsprint, and processed foods. The chemical industry uses local reserves of oil and natural gas. Zagreb also hosts an annual international trade fair.

History

The site of modern Zagreb was first mentioned in 1093, when a Roman Catholic bishop's office was established there. For several hundred years there were two settlements on the site, one religious and one civil. The civil settlement was encircled by walls to defend it against invaders in the 13th century. The religious settlement was fortified in the 16th. Together the two towns served as the political and cultural centers of the region of Croatia, though they continued as rivals until the 19th century. A rush of new building resulted in a combination of the towns, which expanded southward.

In 1941, during World War II, Zagreb became the capital of a Croatian state controlled by the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan. Marshal Tito freed the city from Axis rule in 1945. The Croatian state joined Yugoslavia after the war. In 1991 fighting broke out in the area after Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia. Zagreb was heavily damaged but began to rebuild after the fighting ended in the mid-1990s. Population (1998 estimate), 777,826.