Trešnjevka – SouthFrom Zagrebačka avenija to the Sava: housing estates, old villages and Jarun lake

Trešnjevka – South at a glance

• Residents (2021 Census)⁴¹65,324
• Households renting⁴²9.3%
• Area⁴⁵9.8 km²
• Neighbourhoods in our guide9
• Local committees⁴⁶6

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 Trešnjevka – South is

The district lies in the south-west of Zagreb and covers part of the settlement of Zagreb.^1,9 Its northern border follows Zagrebačka avenija, in places along its north side and in places along its south side, as far as Savska cesta, which it crosses at number 108. Across the avenue are Stenjevec to the north-west and Trešnjevka – sjever to the north.^1,2,9 In the east the border runs south along the east side of Savska cesta and crosses the river on Savski most; Trnje lies on the other side of Savska.^1,9

The southern border follows the south bank of the Sava, and across the river is Novi Zagreb – zapad.^1,2,9 In the west the border follows the cadastral line between Vrapče and Stenjevec, along the east side of Svilkovići odvojak and the west side of Svilkovići, up to Zagrebačka avenija; the neighbour there is Stenjevec.^1,9 Three streams from the Sljeme hills, the Vrapčak, Kustošak and Črnomerec, cross the district and flow into the Sava.^9,10

Neighbourhoods in Trešnjevka – jug

• KnežijaA planned estate built from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s, with four- to nine-storey blocks, parks and a row of plane trees along Ujevićeva.Knežija neighbourhood guide
• JarunAn old village with blocks of flats since 1979, family houses on Ulica Jarun, the open Vrapčak stream and the lake to the south.Jarun neighbourhood guide
• GrediceA 1980s estate with streets named after Croatian architects, Đorđe Romić's Blok K and family houses south of Jarunska.Gredice neighbourhood guide
• VrbaniAn estate built in three phases, from late-1970s blocks to Vrbani III by the lake (2006 to 2009), with streets named after the months.Vrbani neighbourhood guide
• PrečkoA former village by the Sava, since the 1960s an estate built mostly by the Vladimir Gortan company, with streets named after composers and musicians.Prečko neighbourhood guide
• SrednjaciA 1965 estate built after the flood, with four 73-metre tower blocks on Ulica braće Domany and a name from a former Sava river island.Srednjaci neighbourhood guide
• HorvatiA campus and sports area by Horvaćanski zavoj, with the Faculty of Kinesiology, the Stjepan Radić student residence (over 4,000 beds) and Mladost sports park.Horvati neighbourhood guide
• StaglišćeAn area of family houses with blocks of flats around its edges, shaped in the mid-1980s, with the Jarun market and the Holy Spirit church.Staglišće neighbourhood guide
• TrešnjevkaStara Trešnjevka around Trešnjevački trg, a workers' quarter of interwar single-storey houses, lies mostly in the neighbouring district of Trešnjevka – sjever.Trešnjevka neighbourhood guide

District council and local committees

Zagreb's 17 city districts were created by the City Statute of 14 December 1999.³ Their borders and seats are set by the decision on district borders and seats, adopted by the City Assembly on 26 February 2009 and amended in 2017 and 2020; the consolidated text has applied since 12 November 2020.^1,2 The district's six local committees (mjesni odbori) were set up in February 2009.¹¹

From 1974 until Zagreb's municipalities were abolished on 31 December 1990, the area of today's district, Prečko included, belonged to the municipality of Trešnjevka.¹¹ The district council elected in 2025 has 19 members and first met on 27 June 2025.^4,6 The district and its local office are based at Park Stara Trešnjevka 2, the same address as the seat of Trešnjevka – sjever.^1,5

6 local committees (mjesni odbori) in Trešnjevka – South: Gajevo, Horvati - Srednjaci, Jarun, Knežija, Prečko, Vrbani.⁴⁶

People in Trešnjevka – jug

At the 2021 Census, 65,324 people lived in Trešnjevka – jug in 28,164 households. 2,618 households, or 9.3%, paid a market rent (Zagreb: 7.7%). The average household had 2.3 members.^41,42

The district covers 9.8 km², about 6,639 people per square kilometre (Zagreb average: 1,196).⁴⁵

Its parts: what is where in Trešnjevka – jug

The district is flat and sits on the Sava's alluvial terraceBalcony and terrace (balkon, terasa)A balcony projects from the building's façade; a terrace is a level surface on or next to the building, covered or open. Both count only in part in floor-area figures.Source: Pravilnik o načinu obračuna površine i obujma u projektima zgrada (NN 90/10), Art. 4–5, checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary.^9,10 The south is taken up by the Jarun sports and recreation centre with its lakes and by the strip along the river, so nearly everyone lives further north, in the built-up part of the district.^9,10 Also by the Sava is Mladost sports park at Jarunska 5.^10,40 According to the City's 2020 leaflet, the district's residential areas have the second-highest housing density in Zagreb, after Donji grad.¹⁰

The villages are the oldest layer. Urnfield-culture graves in Horvati show that farmers lived there in the 11th century BC, and the villages of Prečko, Horvati and Jarun appear in documents from the mid-18th century.¹¹ When feudal serfdom ended, the settlements of Knežija, Kalinovica and Srednjaci grew up. According to the district history the City publishes, the streets of southern Trešnjevka, built between the wars mostly without permits, still keep a winding village layout.¹¹

According to Vijenac's account of the City Museum exhibition, Zagrebačka avenija, the former motorway (autoput), was built in 1956, and building south of it sped up after the great flood of 1964. The first estates, Knežija and Srednjaci, went up in 1965, and building then spread west towards Gajevo, Staglišće, Jarun, Vrbani and Prečko.^12,11 The Prečko estate was started on farmland in the 1960s.¹³ Blocks of flats have gone up in Jarun, Gajevo and Staglišće since 1979.¹⁴ Most of Gredice was built in the 1980s.³⁸ Vrbani III, by Jarun lake, was built from 2006 to 2009 after a 2004 competition.¹⁵

Horvaćanska cesta was home to the plants of Jugomont, a firm founded in 1955 that developed prefabricated housing. In 1976 it joined Industrogradnja.^16,17 The district also has the Faculty of Kinesiology and the Stjepan Radić student residence, which the City's leaflet calls the largest student residence.¹⁰

Gajevo

A local committee area north of Jarun, between Horvaćanska cesta and Zagrebačka avenija. Mapiranje Trešnjevke treats it as one unit with Jarun and Staglišće.¹⁴ Dom zdravlja Zagreb – Zapad has a site at Ulica Hrvoja Macanovića 2a, listed in the City's 2019 inventory as Dom zdravlja Gajevo-Jarun.^21,9

Sportsko-rekreacijski centar Jarun

A 240-hectare centre around a chain of lakes left by Zagreb's former gravel pit. The concept dates from 1952 and building went on until 1987.¹⁸ According to Mapiranje Trešnjevke, work began in 1975, the centre played a special part in the 1987 Universiade, and the lake was declared a bathing area in 1988.¹⁴

Savski most

In 1783, at Emperor Joseph II's initiative, a wooden bridge was built where today's bridge stands, and Savska cesta was extended to it from the town. An iron bridge followed in 1892. Baths and inns grew up around it, and this stretch of the Sava was, with Maksimir, Zagreb's main place for recreation.¹¹ ZET's Savski most bus terminal is there today.¹⁹

Where the name Trešnjevka – South comes from

The district shares its name with Trešnjevka – sjever, and the English translation of the City Statute calls it Trešnjevka – South.³⁹ According to the history of Trešnjevka – sjever on the City's website, Trešnjevka is named after a plot of land called Črešnjevke, north of the former Berek. Tržnice Zagreb gives another version: the name comes from a locality called Pod Črešnjom in 17th-century sources.^7,8 The name first meant the old core around the Trešnjevka market, and in recent decades two city districts have carried it.¹²

Roads, rail and lines in Trešnjevka – jug

Zagrebačka avenija and Savska cesta run along the district's edges.^1,9 Through it runs Horvaćanska cesta, which the City called one of Zagreb's busiest roads in 2024.³⁵ According to Mapiranje Trešnjevke, the new section of Horvaćanska, with a tram line, was built in 1987, just before the Universiade.¹⁴ tportal describes the junction of Horvaćanska and Selska cesta as one of the busiest in Zagreb, and the City's transport map also marks Jarunska ulica and Ulica Hrvatskog sokola.^34,9

The city plan (GUP) provides for two new bridges over the Sava, east and west of Jarun lake, with access roads extending Ulica Črnomerec and Vrapčanska ulica, and for an extension of Jarunska ulica to Prečko, according to the City's 2020 leaflet.¹⁰

By Savski most, which carries the eastern border, is ZET's Savski most bus terminal. Its lines include 110 Botinec, 111 Donji Stupnik – Stupnički Obrež, 112 Lučko and 133 Sveta Klara – Čehi. Bus 168 runs from Ježdovec to the Prečko terminal, and bus 117 from Črnomerec to Jarun.^1,19,20

Office, health, police and libraries in Trešnjevka – jug

Being built in Trešnjevka – jug

• A Sava bridge extending Vrapčanska ulica: in May 2026 the City announced a 625-metre bridge with four traffic lanes, a tram line and walking and cycling paths, linking Trešnjevka – jug and Novi Zagreb – zapad. The City said it would be the first new bridge in western Zagreb in 45 years, with works due to start in mid-2028.^32,10
• Health centre, community centre and library in Vrbani: in September 2025 a design was chosen for the complex on Kutnjački put, next to Horvaćanska cesta. The City put construction at €10.7 million and expected works to start in the first half of 2027.³¹
• Selska and Horvaćanska junction: according to tportal on 30 October 2026, works on about 140 metres of the eastern Horvaćanska approach were already under way. The larger part, with a bus lane on Selska and the Knežija tram stop moved, was planned for summer 2027, and procurement was still open.³⁴
• Matija Gubec nursery, Ulica braće Cvijića 18: in October 2026 the City started procurement for its reconstruction and extension, after which it would take twelve groups instead of six. According to the announcement, works would start in spring 2027 and take about a year.³³

Did you know?

• 1The area of the former Jarun local people's committee became part of Zagreb only at the end of 1949.¹¹
• 2The first school in the Trešnjevka area was a primary school built in Horvati in 1895.¹¹
• 3Trešnjevka – jug was one of four districts where the City piloted participatory budgeting in 2024: residents proposed projects for their neighbourhoods and voted on them.³⁶

Renting in Trešnjevka – jug

Nearby districts

• New Zagreb – WestDistrict guide
• StenjevecDistrict guide
• Trešnjevka – NorthDistrict guide
• TrnjeDistrict guide

• Compare districts: Trešnjevka – South and New Zagreb – West
• Compare districts: Trešnjevka – South and Stenjevec
• Compare districts: Trešnjevka – South and Trešnjevka – North
• All Zagreb neighbourhood guides

For listings across the district, see rentals in Trešnjevka – South. To compare the neighbours, read what living in New Zagreb – West is like and what living in the Stenjevec district is like.

Questions: living in Trešnjevka – jug