Zagreb Upper Town (Gornji Grad)

Zagreb grew from two neighbouring hilltop settlements: Kaptol, the church town around the cathedral, and Gradec, the walled civic and trading town where the Upper Town stands today. St Mark's Square was once Gradec's main market place, and the church itself began as a Romanesque building in the 13th century. It was reworked in Gothic style in the late 14th century, when the richly carved south portal with fifteen figures was added, and later rebuilt in neo-Gothic style at the end of the 19th century by the architect Herman Bollé, when the famous patterned roof was laid. In the 1930s the sculptor Ivan Meštrović and painter Jozo Kljaković restored and decorated the interior.

The Lotrščak Tower was built in the 13th century to guard the southern gate of Gradec. Today a cannon is fired from it every day at noon, a long-standing custom that locals still set their watches by. Around St Mark's Square, Banski dvori was the residence of Croatia's bans for over a century and now houses the government, while the Croatian Parliament has met on the square since 1737.

Below the hill, Ban Jelačić Square has been the city's commercial hub since the 17th century. Its equestrian statue of Ban Josip Jelačić, by the Austrian sculptor Anton Fernkorn, was first placed there in 1866, removed in 1947 and returned in 1990.

For Zagreb residents, Ban Jelačić Square is where you arrange to meet friends, and the streets below the Upper Town fill with café terraces through much of the year. The noon cannon from Lotrščak is a daily ritual woven into city life, and the Upper Town's quiet lanes, government buildings and small churches give it a more formal, reflective atmosphere than the lively Lower Town. Visitors are welcome in churches outside service times; modest dress and quiet behaviour are appreciated.