Upper Town – MedveščakFrom the main square and the old town to the slopes of Medvednica

Upper Town – Medveščak at a glance

• Residents (2021 Census)⁴³26,423
• Households renting⁴⁴7.0%
• Area⁴⁷10.2 km²
• Neighbourhoods in our guide8
• Local committees⁴⁸13

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 Upper Town – Medveščak is

The district takes in part of Zagreb's innermost centre, with the main square and the old town, Kaptol and Gradec, and stretches from south to north.^1,13 The southern border runs along Ilica, the south side of Trg bana Jelačića and Jurišićeva, the west side of Draškovićeva and the north side of Vlaška to Kvaternikov trg. Donji grad lies on the other side, and the north side of the main square belongs to this district.^1,3,9 Maksimir lies to the east; the border with it follows Domjanićeva, Srebrnjak and Bijenička cesta, then the Fučkov jarek stream and the edge of the crematorium to Kameniti stol.^1,3

Podsljeme lies to the north. There the border follows Remetski kamenjak, Majcenov put and Gračanska cesta, goes round the north side of the Mihaljevac tram loop and continues along Nemetova, Gornje Prekrižje and Šestinski vijenac to Šestinski vrh.^1,3 Črnomerec lies to the west: the border comes down the Pantovčak stream, behind the even house numbers of Višnjica and along Višnjičke stube to Vinogradska cesta and Ilica.^1,3

Neighbourhoods in Upper Town – Medveščak

• Upper TownMedieval Gradec on Grič hill, a free royal town since 1242, with old town houses and 18th-century palaces, the funicular and St Mark's Square.Upper Town neighbourhood guide
• KaptolThe canons' town by the cathedral, recorded since 1094, with baroque canons' houses, Dolac, Opatovina and Tkalčićeva, once the craftsmen's street Potok.Kaptol neighbourhood guide
• TuškanacLate 19th-century summer houses and villas from 1909 to the 1930s on the hill north of Ilica, by the Tuškanac park-forest and Krležin gvozd.Tuškanac neighbourhood guide
• PantovčakA street from Britanski trg towards Prekrižje, once a Jesuit estate, with detached houses in gardens, interwar blocks and the President's Office.Pantovčak neighbourhood guide
• ŠalataA hill named after the bishop's vegetable gardens, with 1920s family houses, interwar Novakova ulica, the Medical School and the ŠRC Šalata pools.Šalata neighbourhood guide
• RibnjakA park on the bishop's former fishponds by Kaptol's eastern walls, with interwar blocks on Ribnjak street and the north side of Vlaška.Ribnjak neighbourhood guide
• MedveščakAn avenue with trams above a vaulted stream, Kaptol's 14th-century village of Nova Ves with low houses, Gupčeva zvijezda and the sparser Ksaver valley.Medveščak neighbourhood guide
• KvatrićTrg Eugena Kvaternika, the city's industrial edge around 1900, where three districts meet; this one has the part with the Urania and St Peter's church.Kvatrić neighbourhood guide

District council and local committees

Zagreb's 17 city districts were created by the City Statute of 14 December 1999.⁵ Their borders and seats are set by the decision on district borders and seats, adopted by the City Assembly on 26 February 2009 to replace a decision from 2000.^2,5 This district's border description was rewritten by an amendment of 28 October 2020, and the consolidated text has applied since 12 November 2020.^4,3 The district's local committees (mjesni odbori) were set up in February 2009.⁶

From 1945 to 1952 the area belonged to the city's 1st and 2nd rajon, Centar and Medveščak. In 1953 it was split into two municipalities, Gornji grad and Medveščak, and from 1974 its parts belonged to the municipalities of Centar and Medveščak, which were abolished in 1990.^6,5 The district council elected in 2025 has 11 members and first met on 25 June 2025.⁷ By the decision, the seat is at Draškovićeva ulica 15, in the City administration's Medveščak office. The temporary seat and the local office are at Ksaver 203, in the premises of the Gupčeva zvijezda local committee.^1,2,8

13 local committees (mjesni odbori) in Upper Town – Medveščak: August Cesarec, Gornji grad, Gupčeva zvijezda, Ivan Kukuljević - Sakcinski, Kraljevec, Medveščak, Nova Ves, Petrova, Ribnjak, Stjepan Radić, Šalata, Tuškanac, Voćarska.⁴⁸

People in Upper Town – Medveščak

At the 2021 Census, 26,423 people lived in Upper Town – Medveščak in 11,291 households. 788 households, or 7.0%, paid a market rent (Zagreb: 7.7%). The average household had 2.3 members.^43,44

The district covers 10.2 km², about 2,596 people per square kilometre (Zagreb average: 1,196).⁴⁷

Its parts: what is where in Upper Town – Medveščak

Apart from a small strip in the far south, the whole district lies on the slopes of Medvednica, dotted with the Jelenovac, Prekrižje, Zelengaj, Tuškanac, Orlovac and Remetski kamenjak park-forests.^1,13 According to the City's 2011 land-use survey, forest covers 206 hectares, a fifth of the district. Housing and mixed use take up just over a third, Mirogoj cemetery 65 hectares, and business land less than 1%.^13,14

The old town lies in the south. The City calls it Zagreb's oldest part and historic core, its urban form completed in the 19th century.^14,1 It grew on two hills separated by the Medveščak stream, which ran along the line of today's Medvedgradska and Tkalčićeva. The bishops' Kaptol, where the diocese was founded in 1094, stands on the eastern hill, and Gradec, a free royal town from 1242, on the western one.^6,10,5 North of Kaptol the canons settled the chapter's serfs in the 14th century, and that is how Nova Ves began.⁶ Gradec and Kaptol were united with the surrounding suburbs in 1850.^6,10

The City describes the central and northern parts as an area of town villas and family houses.^1,13 On Novakova ulica, for example, of the twenty houses built between 1931 and 1941 only four were purely family homes and the rest were let.¹⁵ The Medveščak once flowed through the Ksaver valley between Gupčeva zvijezda and Mihaljevac, before it was regulated. Trams reached Mihaljevac in 1948, when the loop was built.^16,20 On Orlovac, on the valley's western slope, stands the housing estate usually called Ksaver, designed by Vahid Hodžić.^16,17

The City's 2020 poster says the district has the second-largest share of public green space and the second-largest share of land for public and social use of all Zagreb's districts.¹⁴ The same poster lists as plans urban plans for extending Mirogoj and for the Hermanna Bollea west green area, and opening part of the Pantovčak park-forest inside the President's Office grounds to the public.¹⁴

Mirogoj

The central city cemetery takes up about 65 hectares of the district.^14,13 The district's eastern border runs round part of the crematorium, and bus 106 runs from Kaptol to Mirogoj and the crematorium.^3,19 The City's 2020 poster lists an urban plan for extending the cemetery.¹⁴

Zelengaj and Goljak

The whole of Goljak street belongs to the Ivan Kukuljević – Sakcinski local committee, while Zelengaj is split between that committee, Kraljevec and Tuškanac.⁹ The special hospital for children with neurodevelopmental and motor disorders has addresses at Goljak 2 and Zelengaj 37, and Dom zdravlja Zagreb – Zapad has a GP surgery at Radnički dol 24.^31,26,9

Petrova

House numbers 1 to 27 and 2 to 48A of Petrova ulica belong to the district, in the Petrova local committee, which also takes in part of Kvaternikov trg.⁹ KBC Zagreb's Clinic for Women's Diseases and Obstetrics is at Petrova 13, while the IV. police station at Petrova 152 lies outside the district.^27,33,9

Where the name Upper Town – Medveščak comes from

The name joins Gornji grad (Upper Town), today's name for medieval Gradec, and Medveščak, the stream that also gives its name to a Zagreb neighbourhood.^10,11,6 For centuries the stream was the boundary between Kaptol and Gradec, and in 1953 the area was split into the municipalities of Gornji grad and Medveščak.^12,6

Roads, rail and lines in Upper Town – Medveščak

The City's list of first-order unclassified roads includes Ksaverska cesta from Gračanska to Gupčeva zvijezda, Medveščak from Gupčeva zvijezda to Ribnjak, Mirogojska cesta from Gupčeva zvijezda to Remetska cesta, Pantovčak from Šestinski vijenac to Britanski trg and Nazorova from Britanski trg to Tuškanac.¹⁸ Ilica and Vlaška run along the district's southern edge.³ According to the City's 2020 poster, the city plan (GUP) provides for no significant new traffic corridors here.¹⁴

The Mihaljevac loop was built in 1948. The City describes it as the only public transport terminal at the foot of Medvednica, linking the Sljeme foothills with the rest of the city.²⁰ From the Kaptol bus terminal, according to ZET's platform plan of September 2025, lines 105 (Britanski trg), 106 (Mirogoj – Krematorij), 201 (Kvaternikov trg), 203 (Svetice), 226 (Remete – Svetice) and 238 (Kozjak) depart.¹⁹ The funicular links the Upper and Lower Town with a 66-metre ride that takes about a minute.²¹

None of the stations and stops on HŽPP's list is in this district. The nearest is Glavni kolodvor, the main station, at Trg kralja Tomislava 12, south of the district border.^22,9

Office, health, police and libraries in Upper Town – Medveščak

Being built in Upper Town – Medveščak

• Mihaljevac loop: on 28 August 2025 the City presented its completed reconstruction, the first major one since it was built in 1948. The investment was €4.13 million, 85% of it from EU funds.²⁰
• The funicular reopened on 19 May 2026 after a little over a year of works. It was its first complete renewal in more than half a century and cost €9.1 million including VAT.²¹
• Schlosserove stube reopened on 23 June 2026 after a €1.7 million renovation (including VAT) paid from the city budget.³⁹ For the neighbouring Trg svibanjskih žrtava 1995., the City launched procurement in August 2026 for works estimated at €100,000 excluding VAT, and expects the renovation to finish in spring 2027.⁴⁰
• Stara Vlaška: work on the permanent pedestrian zone in Vlaška between Palmotićeva and Draškovićeva began in early September 2026 and, according to the City, should finish by the end of the year. The investment is about €3.4 million excluding VAT, and part of Branjugova from Langov trg to Palmotićeva follows in a second phase.^41,42

Did you know?

• 1According to the Zagreb City Museum, until the end of the 19th century the Medveščak stream ran right through the city: down the Ksaver valley, along today's Medvedgradska and Tkalčićeva, then Jurišićeva and Draškovićeva, to its mouth in the Sava at Žitnjak.^12,6
• 2Trg bana Jelačića began in 1641, when a new market opened in the lowland below Gradec and Kaptol. The Manduševec spring beside it gave the square its first name.⁶
• 3Police stations do not follow district borders. According to the 2023 report, police areas have barely changed since the late 1970s, so several stations share this district.³²

Renting in Upper Town – Medveščak

Nearby districts

• ČrnomerecDistrict guide
• Lower TownDistrict guide
• MaksimirDistrict guide
• PodsljemeDistrict guide

• Compare districts: Upper Town – Medveščak and Črnomerec
• Compare districts: Upper Town – Medveščak and Lower Town
• Compare districts: Upper Town – Medveščak and Maksimir
• All Zagreb neighbourhood guides

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