PodsljemeOld villages and family houses on the southern slopes of Medvednica

Podsljeme at a glance

• Residents (2021 Census)³⁹18,974
• Households renting⁴⁰3.7%
• Area⁴³59.3 km²
• Neighbourhoods in our guide4
• Local committees⁴⁴5

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 Podsljeme is

Podsljeme covers the northernmost part of the City of Zagreb. Its northern border runs along the Medvednica ridge, the city's border with Krapinsko-zagorska županija.^1,2 Gornji grad – Medveščak and Maksimir lie to the south, Črnomerec to the west and Gornja Dubrava to the east.^1,2 Towards Črnomerec the border follows paths in Mikulička gora and Kulmerova gora and the Kuniščak stream, then crosses Šestinski dol, Gramača and Ulica Ive Serdara to Šestinski vrh.^2,3

Towards Gornji grad – Medveščak the border follows Šestinski vijenac, Šumski prečac and Nemetova, and the whole of Zrinskogorska ulica belongs to Podsljeme. It then comes down the east side of Mlinovi street, goes round the north side of the Mihaljevac tram loop, which stays outside the district, and continues along Gračanska cesta, Majcenov put and Remetski kamenjak.^2,3 Towards Maksimir it crosses the Bliznec and Črna voda streams and Jazbina street, then follows the Dotrščina stream down through the forest of the same name to Štefanovec. Towards Gornja Dubrava it runs along the east side of Štefanovec and the Mlinski potok, crosses the Trnava and Vidovec streams and Miroševečka cesta, and reaches the city border.^2,3

Neighbourhoods in Podsljeme

• ŠestineAn old parish below Medvednica with St Mirko's church of 1909, Ante Starčević's grave, the red Šestine umbrella and a trail to Kraljičin zdenac.Šestine neighbourhood guide
• GračaniA village of old Gradec recorded in 1334, with St Michael's church, a tram since 1950 and the Sljeme cable car's valley station since 2022.Gračani neighbourhood guide
• MlinoviA former village of water mills on the Kraljevec stream, between Mihaljevac and Šestine, with Leustek's 1920s park and steep stairways.Mlinovi neighbourhood guide
• MarkuševecOld hamlets on the lower slopes of Medvednica, with a parish recorded in 1334, a church of 1476 and the 2020 earthquake's epicentre.Markuševec neighbourhood guide

District council and local committees

Zagreb's 17 city districts were created by the City Statute of 14 December 1999.^4,5 Their borders and seats are set by a decision the City Assembly adopted on 26 February 2009.⁶ An amendment of 28 October 2020 rewrote Podsljeme's border description and moved its seat from Ilica 25 to Šestinski trg 10; the consolidated text has applied since 12 November 2020.^3,2,6 The district's local committees (mjesni odbori) were set up in February 2009.⁷ The council elected in 2025 has 11 members and first met on 26 June 2025.^8,9 The City administration's local office is at Šestinski trg 10.¹⁰

After the Second World War the local people's committees of Gračani, Mlinovi, Markuševec and Šestine worked here as part of Kotar Zagreb. At the end of 1949 they were joined to the City of Zagreb, and in 1952 three outlying municipalities were formed on the area: Gračani, Markuševec and Šestine.⁷ Three years later their land was divided between the municipalities of Gornji grad, Medveščak and Maksimir. From 1967 to 1974 all these villages belonged to a single city municipality, and from 1974 to the municipalities of Centar, Medveščak and Maksimir, which were abolished in 1990.^7,4

5 local committees (mjesni odbori) in Podsljeme: Gračani, Markuševec, Mlinovi, Šestine, Vidovec.⁴⁴

People in Podsljeme

At the 2021 Census, 18,974 people lived in Podsljeme in 6,350 households. 234 households, or 3.7%, paid a market rent (Zagreb: 7.7%). The average household had 3.0 members.^39,40

The district covers 59.3 km², about 320 people per square kilometre (Zagreb average: 1,196).⁴³

Its parts: what is where in Podsljeme

Medvedgrad stands just past the western border, on a slope of Medvednica in neighbouring Črnomerec. Below it, in an almost unbroken row running north-east, lie the old villages of Šestine, Mlinovi, Gračani, Markuševec and Vidovec.⁷ Only the lower slopes are settled. About 90% of the district belongs to Medvednica Nature Park, and according to the City's 2020 poster forest covers 73.3% of it, the most of any Zagreb district.^1,14

In its 2019 analysis the City wrote that Podsljeme was once strongly rural and that in recent decades many new buildings have gone up there, often without urban planning order.¹ Housing density is low, mostly family houses with larger dwellings.^1,14 Between the 2001 and 2011 censuses the population grew most in the Šestine and Gračani local committees.^1,14 According to Večernji list in 2008, the new city plan (GUP) zoned the whole district for housing and brought a small part of the nature park in the north into the plan, with buildings of up to two storeys above ground.¹⁶

Down the wooded southern slope, through narrow cuts, run the Vidovec, Bidrovec, Trnava, Deščevec, Mrzljak, Štefanovec, Klinovec, Bliznec, Gračanski potok, Kuniščak and Kraljevec streams.¹ Besides the nature park in the north, the large green areas are the valleys of the Kuniščak, the Ribnjak and the Štefanovec and Deščevec, and Dotrščina forest. Inside the nature park there are also special forest vegetation reserves.^1,14 The City describes the district as a gateway to Medvednica Nature Park and an area for sport and recreation, and most of the City's sports facilities here are in the north, in the park's summit zone.^14,1 The City lists Brestovac and Vila Rebar as brownfield sites.¹

Vidovec

The City lists it among the old Sljeme-foothill villages, with Šestine, Mlinovi, Gračani and Markuševec.⁷ From 1974 it was a local community in the Maksimir municipality, and today, like Markuševec, it is covered by the IV. police station.^7,30 The district's eastern border crosses the Vidovec stream.^1,2

Brestovac

A derelict former tuberculosis sanatorium, which the City's 2020 poster says is planned for a new use.^14,1 Beside it is the cable car's mid-station, where passengers can get on and off and where the cable car's drive motors are housed.^19,17

Sljeme summit zone

According to the City's 2020 poster, the district has the ski area, the Grafičar, Kraljičin zdenac, Runolist, Puntijarka and Goršćica mountain lodges and the Tomislavov dom hotel.¹⁴ The ski area and the summit zone have their own urban plans, and the cable car's top station stands at 1,030 metres.^1,19

Dolje and Vila Rebar

The old cable car was built in 1963 on the line from Vila Rebar in Dolje to Sljeme and closed in 2007 because it was worn out.¹⁸ The new one starts in Dolje, next to the tram loop, and Vila Rebar is on the City's list of brownfield sites.^19,1

Where the name Podsljeme comes from

The district's first name was Gradska četvrt Podsljeme (Šestine – Gračani – Markuševec). The City says the Assembly changed it in October 2005, and on 21 September 2006 the district's rules dropped the brackets with the three village names.^1,11,12 The construction portal Bauštela explains the name by the district's position at the foot of Sljeme.¹³

Roads, rail and lines in Podsljeme

The main road to the summit is Sljemenska cesta, one-way from the city up to the summit zone; the way down, Prilaz Kraljičinom zdencu, runs past Kraljičin zdenac to Šestine.¹⁷ Večernji list named the district's larger streets in 2008 as Mlinovi, Gračanska, Markuševečka and Šestinska cesta, Štefanovec, part of Miroševečka cesta and Ulica Vida Ročića.¹⁶ According to the City's 2020 poster, the city plan (GUP) provides for a new corridor between Šestine and Gračani across Gračanski ribnjak and a new link between Jazbina and Bliznec streets.¹⁴

The nearest public transport hub is the Mihaljevac loop, just outside the southern border. From its bus terminal, according to ZET's map of January 2025, lines 102 (Britanski trg), 104 (Dom Ksaver), 140 (Sljeme) and 233 (Markuševec) depart.^3,20,21 The district's only tram track runs from Mihaljevac to Gračansko dolje.^23,22 There, next to the tram loop, is the valley station of the Sljeme cable car, whose rebuilding was finished at the end of 2021. The route via the Brestovac mid-station is 5,017 metres long and climbs 754 metres.^19,17

None of the stations and stops on HŽ Putnički prijevoz's list is in Podsljeme.^24,2

Office, health, police and libraries in Podsljeme

Being built in Podsljeme

• OŠ Markuševec: on 16 December 2024 the City reported that the school's heating and cooling were being modernised, at a cost of about €800,000. The City's energy-efficiency report for 2025 records the replacement of worn equipment in the school's gas boiler room at Markuševečka cesta 160.^34,35
• Hall on Trg svetog Šimuna in Markuševec: on 6 February 2026 the City announced that its renovation was finished and that the hall is used for cultural programmes, workshops and gatherings.³⁶
• Gračani: on 4 February 2026 HRT reported that the new health centre building was finished, with gynaecology and dental care working there, while the opening of the GP surgery was waiting on a ministry decision.³⁷
• Gračansko dolje: on 19 October 2026 Bauštela reported that the rebuilding of the street, about 800 metres long and until then two-way with no pavement, was starting. It becomes one-way and gets a pavement on one side and drainage, with works lasting several months.²³

Did you know?

• 1According to the City's 2020 poster, Podsljeme has the largest average home of any Zagreb district, 94.1 m², which the City puts down to the predominance of family houses.^14,15
• 2In the mid-1950s Mlinovi was split between two municipalities: Gornji Mlinovi went to the Gornji grad municipality and Donji Mlinovi to Medveščak.⁷
• 3The Medvednica Nature Park management plan records that in 2020 the corridor of a once-planned railway, Stubičke Toplice – Gračani tunnel – Zagreb, was removed from the Stubičke Toplice spatial plan.¹⁷

Renting in Podsljeme

Nearby districts

• ČrnomerecDistrict guide
• Gornja DubravaDistrict guide
• Upper Town – MedveščakDistrict guide
• MaksimirDistrict guide

• Compare districts: Podsljeme and Črnomerec
• Compare districts: Podsljeme and Gornja Dubrava
• Compare districts: Podsljeme and Upper Town – Medveščak
• All Zagreb neighbourhood guides

If you are still choosing a part of the city, read what living in Črnomerec is like or the Gornja Dubrava district guide; for the whole city, browse rental apartments in Zagreb.

Questions: living in Podsljeme