Do you know the story about Zrinjevac Square?
Zrinjevac, or Nikola Šubić Zrinski Square, Zagreb's best-known public garden, is a romantic promenade and a recurring motif in the works of photographers, painters and poets. But until the second half of the 19th century, it was just ordinary pasture owned by St. Mark's Parish, and later a plough field and cornfield of Sirkovica, as this suburban area was called at the beginning of the 19th century.
When, in 1830, the City of Zagreb decided to move the cattle market from Harmica (today Ban Josip Jelačić Square), the plough field and the cornfield were dug up, covered with earth, and the ground was prepared for a new market. Back then Nikola Šubić Zrinski Square was called Cattle Square, and later New Square. It was only in 1866 that the square was named after the Croatian viceroy, Zrinski, who lost his life in 1566 defending the town of Siget with 2,500 brave soldiers against the Turkish invaders. The square remained the site of the cattle market until 1869, when it was moved to University Square (today Marshal Tito Square, where the Croatian National Theatre is located), and Zrinjevac became the site for the palatial mansions built in the Italian Neo-renaissance, Neo-gothic and Neoclassical styles.
All the conditions for the design and building were fulfilled after two new streets were made, Marija Valerija Street (today Praška) from the north, and Berislavićeva Street from the northwest. In 1872 the square was made into a public park through the planting of plane trees, whose seedlings were brought from Trieste, and which Zrinjevac is now famous for. A gas lighting system was installed in 1877, and replaced by an electric one in 1907. The first benches were installed following a massive earthquake that hit Zagreb in 1880, and the meteorological post, donated by a city doctor, Adolf Holzer, was added in 1884. The largest building in the square, the music pavilion, a gift from Eduard Pristerac, was erected in 1891 during the jubilee economic exhibition at the former University Square.
Two years later, in 1893, a mushroom-shaped concrete fountain was built from a design by the architect Herman Bollé. The planning and building of Zrinjevac was led by the city surveyor, Milan Lenucij. Lenucij is also to thank for the design of seven other town squares: Strossmayer, Tomislav, Starčević, Marulić, Mažuranić, Theatre Square and the Botanical Garden. All of these squares are lined with trees and flowerbeds and have benches and fountains. Three of the squares – Zrinjevac, Strossmayer and Tomislav – together make up Zagreb's well-known green oasis, often called 'the Lenucij horseshoe'.
By the end of the 19th century, Zrinjevac, its west side in particular, was already taking shape. On the east and west side of the square, neo-styles and Art Nouveau buildings were built, and their design and construction involved some of the leading Zagreb builders and architects, such as Janko Jambrišak, Ivan Plochberger, Janko Grahor and Franjo Klein. These new mansions, the finest examples of the architecture of the period, as well as of sophistication and comfort, were owned by the rich Buratti and Vraniczany families, the mayor of Zagreb, Milan Amruš, the painter Vlaho Bukovac, and many other distinguished people.
The southeast side of Zrinjevac, where military barracks were located for a long time, was the last to be built, and the area where the large court building is situated today was once the site of the so-called Švajcerija, where Swiss and Tyrolean cows were bred. It is also worth mentioning that the site presently occupied by the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences is the former location of the K Vrbi Tavern, which boasted Zagreb's first bowling alley. Zrinjevac was first paved with asphalt in 1911, and the surrounding parts of the old square were paved between 1923 and 1924.
Today, this is a square of distinctive façades and beautiful buildings. Number 19 is the site of the Museum of Archaeology, No. 3 the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia, No. 5 The County Court, No. 7 the Foreign Office, No. 11 the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in front of it are busts of the great Croatian military leaders, Krsto Frankopan and Nikola Jurišič, the politicians and writers Ivan Mažuranić and Ivan Kukuljević–Sakcinski, and the painters Andrija Medulić and Julije Klović, which were sculpted at the turn of the 20th century by Ivan Rendić and Rudolf Valdec.
The memory of the legendary Croatian hero after whom the square was named is now kept alive by Oton Iveković's painting on the wall of the building at No. 20. Holding an unsheathed sabre and facing the inevitable fall of Siget, with the town fort already ablaze, Nikola Šubić Zrinski makes his pledge: 'With God as my witness, I will defend Siget with my blood.... These are the words Hugo Badalić wrote for the libretto of Ivan Zajc's most famous and well-loved Croatian opera, 'Nikola Šubić Zrinski'. Today, Zrinjevac is a refreshing oasis amongst the tall, crowded buildings. It is a part of Zagreb's renowned green 'horseshoe', and the sound of its dancing fountains gives the city a much-needed freshness and calm.
So, should you wish to experience the silence of the 100-year-old plane trees, enjoy watching the sparrows taking their morning bath in the fountains, or take a look at the meteorological post to see what tomorrow brings – then Zrinjevac is the place to be.
Written by Marko Vrdoljak
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