ČrnomerecFrom the railway and Ilica through foothill villages to the Medvednica woods

Črnomerec at a glance

• Residents (2021 Census)³⁶38,084
• Households renting³⁷7.0%
• Area⁴⁰24.2 km²
• Neighbourhoods in our guide5
• Local committees⁴¹8

Rents are asking prices from active listings on NajamStanova; residents and renting come from the 2021 Census. Households renting are those paying a market rent.

Where Črnomerec is

Črnomerec is in north-west Zagreb. The Zagreb – Ljubljana railway bounds it in the south, and in the north it reaches deep into Medvednica, up to the boundary of the City of Zagreb.^5,1 Its neighbours are Podsljeme to the north-east, Gornji grad – Medveščak and Donji grad to the east, Trešnjevka – sjever to the south, Stenjevec to the south-west and Podsused – Vrapče to the north-west.⁵

The western border starts by the railway between Ilica 389 and 393, runs north along Roginina ulica and through Grmoščica, then along Kotoripska ulica, Krvarić and forest paths, and up the west side of the Vrapčak stream to the city boundary.^1,2 Towards Podsljeme it follows paths in Mikulička gora and Kulmerova gora and the Kuniščak stream, and towards Gornji grad – Medveščak the Pantovčak stream, Višnjičke stube and Vinogradska cesta down to Ilica.¹ From Ilica it runs down Ulica Republike Austrije to the railway and then west along the north side of the line, so Zapadni kolodvor and every building north of the tracks belong to Črnomerec.^1,2 The 2009 text also took in a strip south of the railway along Poljačka and Radgonska; since the 2020 amendment the border follows the north side of the line all the way.^3,1

Neighbourhoods in Črnomerec

• ČrnomerecThe lowland strip along Ilica and Prilaz baruna Filipovića, with a brewery from 1893, former barracks, Lauba and the tram terminus.Črnomerec neighbourhood guide
• KustošijaFamily houses along the Kustošak stream, the railway and Grmoščica forest; Gornja Kustošija and Kustošija – centar are in this district, Donja Kustošija in Stenjevec.Kustošija neighbourhood guide
• Sveti DuhThe area along Sveti Duh street, which climbs from Ilica towards Šestinski dol, with the hospital, St Anthony's basilica and the 1980s Kajfešov brijeg terraces.Sveti Duh neighbourhood guide
• JelenovacA slope with an oak and hornbeam park-forest, 19th-century villas and the Sestre milosrdnice hospital on Vinogradska cesta, on the border with Gornji grad – Medveščak.Jelenovac neighbourhood guide
• Šestinski dolThe foothill valley of the Kuniščak stream towards Šestine, with Vrhovec's family houses, two park-forests and Vjenceslav Richter's house.Šestinski dol neighbourhood guide

District council and local committees

Zagreb's 17 city districts were created by the City Statute of 14 December 1999.⁴ Their borders and seats are set by the decision on district borders and seats of 26 February 2009, amended in 2017 and 2020. The City Assembly rewrote the Črnomerec border text in October 2020, and the consolidated text has applied since 12 November 2020.^3,1,2 The district's local committees (mjesni odbori) were set up in February 2009.^9,10 The district council elected in 2025 has 15 members and first met on 23 June 2025.^6,7 The district and its local office are based at Trg Francuske Republike 15.^2,8

Until 1945 Zagreb's boundary was on the Kustošak stream, so the western part of the district joined the city only then. From 1945 to 1952 most of today's district was in the city's VI rayon, Črnomerec; Kustošija was a separate VII rayon until 1947, and Bijenik and Mikulići joined the city only in late 1949.⁹ From 1974 the whole area belonged to the municipality of Črnomerec, which was abolished in 1990.^9,4

8 local committees (mjesni odbori) in Črnomerec: Ban Keglević, Bartol Kašić, Gornja Kustošija, Jelenovac, Kustošija - centar, Medvedgrad, Sveti Duh, Šestinski dol - Vrhovec.⁴¹

People in Črnomerec

At the 2021 Census, 38,084 people lived in Črnomerec in 15,072 households. 1,052 households, or 7.0%, paid a market rent (Zagreb: 7.7%). The average household had 2.5 members.^36,37

The district covers 24.2 km², about 1,576 people per square kilometre (Zagreb average: 1,196).⁴⁰

Its parts: what is where in Črnomerec

The district runs north to south, mostly on the slopes of Medvednica, and four streams cross it: the Kustošak, Veliki potok (Črnomerec), the Kuniščak and Jelenovački potok.⁵ Mladen Klemenčić divides it into a lowland along Ilica, where urban growth began, and a hill part north of Ilica, on the southernmost slopes of Medvednica, made up of former outlying villages that the city took in over the 20th century.¹³ The City's 2019 analysis describes the south as fully built up, the most densely settled part and part of the wider city centre, and notes traces of a traditional rural way of life in the north.⁵

By actual land use in 2011, forest covered 51.5% of the district, residential and mixed use 24.0%, and farmland, unmanaged and other land 14.5%. The forests are in the north, housing in the middle, and public institutions and business mostly in the south.⁵ The green areas are Medvednica Nature Park, the valleys of the Kustošak, Črnomerec and Kuniščak, and the Jelenovac, Vrhovec and Grmoščica woods. According to the same analysis, all the district's cultural venues are in the south.⁵

In the 17th century the city villages of Čukovići, Vrhovci, Jelenovec and Domjanići are recorded here, and in the 19th century newer settlements grew up: Mikulići, Fraterščica, Bijenik, Novaki and Kustošija.⁹ After the railways to Zidani Most (1862) and Karlovac (1865) were built, many factories went up here, along with hospitals and barracks.⁹

Goran Arčabić, who led the Zagreb City Museum's project on industrial heritage, writes that industry has been leaving Črnomerec since the late 1990s, faster after 2000, while vacant sites are being filled more slowly than announced.¹⁴ The City's 2019 analysis lists these brownfield sites as Ciglana Črnomerec, Kamensko, the Prilaz baruna Filipovića – Cankareva – Gradišćanska block and Trg pravde.⁵

Mikulići

A hillside settlement that grew in the 19th century and joined the city only in late 1949. The City names its best-known landmark as the Neo-Romanesque summer house the Pongratz family built in 1868 to a design by the builder Klein.⁹ Mikulići belongs to the Medvedgrad local committee, and bus 127 runs there from the Črnomerec terminal.^10,16

Bijenik

A 19th-century settlement that, like Mikulići, joined the city in late 1949.⁹ The streets Bijenik, Bijenik mali and Bijenički goljak belong to the Medvedgrad local committee.¹⁰

Medvedgrad

A 13th-century fortress with the Romanesque-Gothic chapel of Sts Philip and James, badly damaged in the 1590 earthquake.^12,9 It stands practically on the border with Podsljeme, on the Črnomerec side.^9,11 It gives its name to the local committee that, with Mikulići, Bijenik and Lukšić, reaches the city boundary.¹⁰

Where the name Črnomerec comes from

According to Mladen Klemenčić, the name comes from the Medvednica stream and the former outlying village, which appear in the records as Č(e)rnomerec and Č(e)rnomerci.¹³ The City's 2019 analysis gives the stream as Veliki potok (Črnomerec).⁵

Roads, rail and lines in Črnomerec

In the second half of the 19th century Ilica was the main axis along which the city grew towards Črnomerec. The other long street of the lowland is Prilaz baruna Filipovića with its continuation Ulica grada Mainza, about 1.5 km from Trg Francuske Republike to Zagrebačka cesta.¹³ Selska cesta and Vodovodna ulica run south from Ilica across the railway; north of the line Selska has only its first stretch.¹³ According to the City's 2019 analysis, public transport is mostly by bus, with trams along Ilica.⁵

The Zagreb – Ljubljana railway follows the southern border. The Zapadni kolodvor station building, at Trg Francuske Republike 13 b, is north of the tracks and belongs to Črnomerec, and the Kustošija stop on Sokolska ulica is on the same line.^15,1

According to the platform plan of September 2025, buses from the Črnomerec terminal include 126 to Gornja Kustošija and Krvarić, 127 to Mikulići, 172 to Zaprešić and 176 to Gornja Bistra.¹⁶

Office, health, police and libraries in Črnomerec

Being built in Črnomerec

• Railway: on 12 December 2024 the end of the modernisation of the Zagreb Kustošija – Zapadni kolodvor – Glavni kolodvor section was marked. The section is 3.5 km long and the €29.2 million project was paid for by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The works included passenger access areas at Zapadni kolodvor and the level crossings on Vodovodna and Ulica Republike Austrije, and the speed was due to rise to 120 km/h with the new timetable. The restoration of the Zapadni kolodvor building, a protected cultural property, was then being designed, and HŽ Infrastruktura expected to tender the works in spring 2025.³³
• Petar Pan kindergarten on Prilaz baruna Filipovića: about 100 children started there in October 2025. According to the City, it is the district's first new kindergarten in twelve years, with about 1,000 m² indoors and a 1,400 m² yard; buying and fitting it out cost about €5 million.³⁴
• Health centre at Prilaz baruna Filipovića 11: the full rebuild is a €13.06 million project, and according to a June 2026 information sheet its implementation period ran to 30 June 2026.²⁰ At the end of May 2026 the health centre was still sending patients to Ulica Grgura Ninskog 3; we found no notice that the building has reopened.²¹
• Extended Ulica Črnomerec: in February 2026 the City completed the tender for the concept design and location permit, worth €90,000 including VAT, with a four-month deadline. The plan is a green corridor almost 3,500 metres long and 25 to 40 metres wide, along Fallerovo šetalište and the Črnomerec stream, linking Črnomerec, Trešnjevka – sjever and Trešnjevka – jug from Ulica kralja Tomislava to a future foot and cycle bridge east of Jarun, with paths for walking and cycling and a tram line.³⁵

Did you know?

• 1About 150 trains a day use the railway section from Kustošija through Zapadni kolodvor to the main station.³³
• 2The Braća Ševčik factory, according to Goran Arčabić the first in the country to make machine tools in series, was built between 1928 and 1936 and demolished in early 2014. A housing block now stands on the site, and the rebuilt former foundry sits in its courtyard, by the building on the corner of Grahorova and Ulica grada Mainza.^14,10
• 3Klinička bolnica Sveti Duh describes itself as Croatia's oldest hospital, in continuous operation since 1804.³⁰

Renting in Črnomerec

Nearby districts

• Upper Town – MedveščakDistrict guide
• PodsljemeDistrict guide
• Podsused – VrapčeDistrict guide
• Trešnjevka – NorthDistrict guide

• Compare districts: Črnomerec and Upper Town – Medveščak
• Compare districts: Črnomerec and Podsljeme
• Compare districts: Črnomerec and Podsused – Vrapče
• All Zagreb neighbourhood guides

For listings across the district, see flats for rent in Črnomerec. To compare the neighbours, read the Upper Town – Medveščak district guide and what living in Podsljeme is like.

Questions: living in Črnomerec