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Contents: 1/13 · At a glance
  1. At a glance
  2. Where it is
  3. For and against
  4. What it's like
  5. The name
  6. History
  7. What to see
  8. Did you know?
  9. Everyday life
  10. Renting
  11. Nearby
  12. Questions
  13. Sources
The façade of St Catherine’s Church in the Upper Town with its Baroque gable and statue niches.The façade of St Catherine’s Church in the Upper Town with its Baroque gable and statue niches.

Neighbourhood guide · Upper Town – Medveščak

Upper TownGradec on Grič hill, with a funicular, gas lamps and a noon cannon

Checked 25 October 2026 · 12 min read

With the Golden Bull of 1242 King Béla IV made Gradec a free royal town, and ordered its citizens to fortify it at their own cost and, whenever he visited, to give him 12 oxen, 1,000 loaves and 4 barrels of wine.1

Upper Town at a glance

  • To the main square by ZET7 min
  • To the centre as the crow flies0.5 km
  • Residents, committee area (2021)22,137
  • Free royal town1since 1242
Trams nearby

Where Upper Town is

Gornji grad, the Upper Town, is medieval Gradec, which grew up on Grič hill.3,4 Officially it belongs to the city district of Gornji grad – Medveščak and is covered by one local committee (mjesni odbor), Gornji grad, based at Opatička ulica 16.2,5 Neighbourhoods have no official boundaries, so this guide describes Gornji grad through that committee. It is not a separate settlement: under the decisions of 2009 and 2017 the committee covers part of the settlement of Zagreb.6,5

The committee area is larger than the old walled town. Besides Gradec it takes in the whole of Radićeva (officially Ulica Pavla Radića), Mesnička, Tomićeva, Ilirski trg and the even side of Ilica from number 2 to 38, and to the north Dežmanova, Dubravkin put, the Cmrok meadow, the whole Jurjevska forest, Jurjevska ulica and part of Ksaver.6,7 Neighbouring Kaptol, with Dolac, Tkalčićeva and Krvavi most, belongs to the August Cesarec committee, and the Tuškanac villas, on streets such as Krležin gvozd and Jabukovac, to the Tuškanac committee.7,6

For and against: life in Gornji grad

What's going for it

  • The funicular from Tomićeva runs up to Strossmayerovo šetalište every ten minutes from 6:30 to 21:50, and the ride takes 64 seconds.9
  • Two bus lines run through the Upper Town: 150 to Trg bana Jelačića, the main square, and 105 between Kaptol and Britanski trg.10,11,64
  • The committee area has two secondary schools, Gornjogradska gimnazija and Gimnazija Tituša Brezovačkog, and the Hugo Kon Jewish primary school.13,14,15,7
  • Park Bele IV., Park Grič, the Strossmayerovo and Vrazovo promenades, the Cmrok meadow and the whole Jurjevska forest are in the committee area.6,7

What to expect

  • Under Zagrebparking's rules (as of October 2026), the historic core is zone I.1, with no hourly parking. Residents with a resident's permit (€14.60 a month) may park, and everyone else only with a day ticket issued by an official. The disabled parking sticker is not valid there.16,17,18
  • The nearest public garage, Tuškanac (Tuškanac 1b, 465 spaces), doesn't guarantee a free space, even to residents with a discounted monthly pass.19
  • According to the historian Marin Lipovac, only two roads lead up to the Upper Town, Mesnička and Radićeva.20
  • Residents told a city study in 2023 that the only service left to them was the pharmacy on Kamenita, and that they go down the hill for most things.21
  • The Parliament building on Markov trg has been under reconstruction since October 2024, and completion is now expected by summer 2028.22,23

What life is like in Gornji grad

Gornji grad is a neighbourhood of old town houses and palaces. According to the Croatian Encyclopaedia, many of its palaces and houses, among them the Zrinski, Kulmer and Dverce palaces and the Špulka, Hubman and Mayer houses, were mostly built in the 18th century, and the buildings on Markov trg still house the Parliament, the Government and the City Assembly.24 According to a 2019 study in the journal Kaj, Gradec's 18th-century corner houses have one, two or three wings, on L- and U-shaped plans.25 The Croatian National Tourist Board's guide describes the Upper Town's courtyards, some with architectural, artistic or garden features, as quiet places to retreat to.26

At the 2021 census the committee area had 2,137 residents on 79.82 hectares, against 2,605 in 2011.2,27 In 2011 it had 1,548 dwellings and 1,145 households.27 The area also takes in the Jurjevska forest, Cmrok and part of Ksaver, so these numbers describe more than the people inside the old walls.6

For a sociological study commissioned by the City in 2023, researchers talked to 19 residents of the Gornji grad, August Cesarec and Nova Ves committee areas. They said many buildings are lived in mostly by older people, and that ties between neighbours have weakened over the last twenty years or so.21 By their account, most of them stayed in their homes after the 2020 earthquake, and repairs were often paid for with personal or building loans. Older residents often chose not to borrow and to live with the damage.21

Gradec
The old walled town, with Markov trg, Kamenita vrata, Opatička, Demetrova, Ćirilometodska and Strossmayerovo šetalište.28,7
Radićeva, Mesnička and Ilica
The slopes towards the Lower Town: all of Radićeva, Mesnička, Tomićeva with the funicular's lower station, Ilirski trg and the even side of Ilica from number 2 to 38.7,9
Jurjevska, Cmrok and Ksaver
The northern part of the committee area: Jurjevska ulica, the whole Jurjevska forest, the Cmrok meadow, used for sledging since Christmas 2016, and part of Ksaver.6,7,29

Where the name Upper Town comes from

The medieval town was called Gradec. According to a thesis by Nina Herman, drawing on the historian Lelja Dobronić, the name Gornji grad (Upper Town) appears in the 17th century and made sense once the Lower Town began to grow on the plain below the hill.30 Ivan Krstitelj Tkalčić explained Gradec as a diminutive meaning 'small town', and Herman adds that Gradec really was small.30

The other old name is Grič. The Croatian language portal defines grič as a small hill or rise, and as a place name the hill on which Gradec arose.3 The Croatian Encyclopaedia writes 'Gradec (Grič)' and gives the medieval Latin forms Grec, Grech and Mons Grecensis.24

A short history of Upper Town

The Stone Gate with its steep roof and arched passage, beside a low house and an old stone house on a cobbled lane.The Stone Gate with its steep roof and arched passage, beside a low house and an old stone house on a cobbled lane.
Kamenita vrata, the only surviving gate of medieval Gradec.

On the site of the former Poor Clares' convent, now the Zagreb City Museum, archaeologists found remains of Iron Age houses from the 7th and 6th centuries BC and of a fortified late La Tène settlement.24 The settlement on Grič hill is first mentioned in 1201.31

With the Golden Bull, issued at Virovitica on 16 November 1242 shortly after the Tatar raid, Béla IV made Gradec a free royal town, outside the county's authority.1,24 The town was laid out to a plan, ringed by a wall that follows the terrain, with St Mark's parish church on its central square.28 In the 14th century Gradec had a royal court (1335), a pharmacy (1355) and a school with a salaried teacher (1360).28

For centuries Gradec and Kaptol were rivals. According to the encyclopaedia, they quarrelled over land, mills and market dues, and Kaptol twice excommunicated the citizens of Gradec.24 On 3 June 1607 the Jesuits opened Zagreb's first gymnasium on Gradec, today's Gornjogradska gimnazija, and from 1620 to 1632 they built St Catherine's church.13,32,33 A great fire in 1731 swept through Gradec, the Stone Gate included.34 The Parliament first sat in its new palace on Markov trg on 6 May 1737.35

An imperial patent of 7 September 1850 united Gradec, Kaptol, Nova Ves and Vlaška Ves into one municipality, the city of Zagreb, with 1,419 houses and 15,385 people.36 The earthquake of 9 November 1880 damaged 1,758 of Zagreb's 3,830 buildings; in St Mark's church the vault fell and destroyed the organ.37

In 1941 a 17th-century group of convent buildings on the southern edge of Gradec, built on the medieval wall and later turned into flats, was pulled down. The empty site was long called Vranicanijeva poljana; it was laid out as a park in 2011 and named Park Bele IV. in 2012.38 On 7 October 1991 a Yugoslav People's Army aircraft fired rockets at Banski dvori, now the seat of the Government.39

  1. 1201The settlement on Grič hill is first mentioned.31
  2. 1242Béla IV's Golden Bull makes Gradec a free royal town.1
  3. 1257By this year Gradec's walls have been rebuilt.24
  4. 1355A town pharmacy on Gradec is first recorded.28,40
  5. 1607The Jesuits open Zagreb's first gymnasium.13
  6. 1731A great fire devastates Gradec and the Stone Gate.34
  7. 1737The Parliament first sits in its palace on Markov trg.35
  8. 1850Gradec, Kaptol, Nova Ves and Vlaška Ves are united into one municipality.36
  9. 1863Zagreb's first 312 gas street lamps are lit.41
  10. 1880The earthquake brings down the vault of St Mark's church.37
  11. 1890The funicular opens.42,43
  12. 1903An observatory opens in Popov toranj.44,45
  13. 1943–1945The Grič tunnel is dug under the hill as an air-raid shelter.46
  14. 2026After a full rebuild the funicular runs again from 19 May.47

What to see in Gornji grad

  • Markov trg

    St Mark's Square holds St Mark's church, a parish church since the mid-13th century, the Parliament building and Banski dvori at number 2, the seat of the Government.48,35,39 Hermann Bollé gave the church its glazed tiled roof with the arms of Zagreb and of the Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia in a rebuild finished in 1882.49,48

  • Kamenita vrata

    The Stone Gate, the only surviving medieval gate of Gradec, built in the 13th century and built into a house in the 17th.34,4 Devotion to Our Lady of the Stone Gate rests on the legend of a painting of Mary that survived the 1731 fire, and Zagreb Day is now held on her feast, 31 May.34,50

  • Lotrščak tower and the Grič cannon

    The tower on Strossmayerovo šetalište is named after the campana latrunculorum, the 17th-century robbers' bell that rang before the town gates closed.51,52 Since 1927 it has housed the Grič cannon, which marks noon with a shot every day. The noon shot itself is older: it has been fired since 1877.51,52

  • The funicular (uspinjača)

    It runs from Tomićeva, just off Ilica, to Strossmayerovo šetalište below Lotrščak. The track is 66 metres long and the ride takes 64 seconds.9,43 It opened on 8 October 1890, and its steam drive was replaced by an electric one in 1934.42,53

  • The Grič tunnel

    A pedestrian tunnel under the hill between Mesnička and Radićeva, with southern branches towards Ilica and Tomićeva.26,46 It was dug as a shelter in the Second World War and served as one again in the Homeland War.46,4 Since 24 December 2016 there has also been an entrance at Radićeva 19.29

  • Museums on Gradec

    The Zagreb City Museum (Opatička 20), the Croatian History Museum (Matoševa 9), the Croatian Natural History Museum (Demetrova 1, reopened after renovation in 2024), the Croatian Museum of Naïve Art and the Museum of Broken Relationships on Ćirilometodska, and the Klovićevi dvori gallery on Jezuitski trg.54,55,56,57,58,59,60 Atelijer Meštrović at Mletačka 8, the house where the sculptor lived from 1922 to 1942, reopened after its rebuild in December 2025.61,62

Did you know?

  • Between 1972 and 1977 a single-track funicular with one cabin and five stops was built on Ksaver, part of which is in the Gornji grad committee area, for the residents of the hillside estate. According to the Croatian Encyclopaedia, it never served its purpose.53,7
  • More than two hundred gas lamps still light the Upper Town, Kaptol and Opatovina. According to the city gas company, in 2020 two lamplighters lit them by hand every evening at dusk and put them out every dawn.41,26
  • The Osijek entrepreneur Klein got the idea for the funicular by counting the people climbing the stairs between the Lower and Upper Town.42,43
  • Popov toranj at Opatička 22, a tower Kaptol built around 1247 on Gradec land, has been a public observatory since 1903. Asteroid 589, discovered in 1906, was named Croatia to honour its opening.44,24,45
  • Miroslav Krleža was born on 7 July 1893 in Duga ulica, today's Radićeva.8,63

Everyday life in Gornji grad

The funicular with a car on the steep track towards the upper station and Lotrščak tower above.The funicular with a car on the steep track towards the upper station and Lotrščak tower above.
The funicular and the Lotrščak tower, linking the Lower and Upper Town since 1890.

Getting around

  • From January 2025 to 19 May 2026 the funicular was closed for a full rebuild costing €7.2 million before VAT, which brought new cabins and better access for disabled people.47,43 It still stops for part of a day once a month for routine servicing, as ZET announced in October 2026.64
  • Bus 150 Tuškanac garaža – Gornji grad – Trg bana Josipa Jelačića runs via Katarinin trg, Ilirski trg, Opatička and Radićeva. By the timetable valid from 7 September 2026 it leaves Tuškanac on weekdays roughly every 15 minutes in the morning and every 30 minutes in the afternoon.10,11
  • While the funicular is being serviced ZET recommends buses 105 (Kaptol – Britanski trg) and 150.64 According to the Zagreb City Libraries' directions, trams 1, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 17 stop at Trg bana Jelačića.12
  • Zone I.1 covers the whole historic core, from Mesnička and Opatička to Radićeva and Strossmayerovo šetalište. It is checked around the clock every day, and its resident permits are not sold to companies or tradesmen.16,65,18

Schools and nurseries

  • Gornjogradska gimnazija (Trg Katarine Zrinske 5) has 597 pupils in 24 classes in 2025/26, all in one morning shift from 8:00 to 14:05.13,66
  • Gimnazija Tituša Brezovačkog is at Habdelićeva 1, and the Hugo Kon Jewish primary school, a school with public accreditation, at Trg Katarine Zrinske 2.14,15
  • The nearest public primary school is OŠ Miroslava Krleže at Kaptol 16, founded in 1830, just outside the committee area.67,7
  • The Marija Jurić Zagorka library at Krvavi most 2 is in the neighbouring August Cesarec committee area; it had 5,094 members in 2025.68,12,7

Parks and sport

  • Park Bele IV. and Park Grič along the southern town wall, and the Strossmayerovo and Vrazovo promenades.38,7
  • The Cmrok meadow, used for sledging since Christmas 2016, and the whole Jurjevska forest.6,29

Markets and shops

  • Dolac market below Kaptol, in the August Cesarec committee area, opened on 1 September 1930.69,7
  • Residents told the city study in early 2023 that the last general store, on Ćirilometodska, had been closed for a while, and that for most things they go down to the Lower Town, Ilica or Centar Kaptol.21

Health

  • Gornji grad is served by Dom zdravlja Zagreb – Centar, whose area includes the Gornji grad – Medveščak district.70 Residents said in 2023 that they also go down the hill to the health centre, then at Dolac.21

Renting in Gornji grad

Nearby neighbourhoods

Questions about life in Gornji grad

Which city district is Gornji grad in?

Gornji grad – Medveščak. It is covered by the Gornji grad local committee, based at Opatička 16, which besides Gradec takes in Radićeva, Mesnička, the Jurjevska forest, Cmrok and part of Ksaver.2,5,6

Are Kaptol and Tkalčićeva part of Gornji grad?

Not of the Gornji grad local committee. Kaptol, Dolac, Tkalčićeva and Krvavi most are in the August Cesarec committee, in the same Gornji grad – Medveščak district.7

Can you park in Gornji grad?

Under Zagrebparking's rules (as of October 2026), the historic core is zone I.1, where only residents with a permit (€14.60 a month) and people with a day ticket issued by an official may park. There is no hourly parking, and checks run around the clock every day.16,17,65,18 The nearest public garage is Tuškanac.19

How do you get to Gornji grad by public transport?

By the funicular from Tomićeva or by buses 150 and 105.9,10,64 Bus 150 runs to Trg bana Jelačića, where, according to the Zagreb City Libraries' directions, trams 1, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 17 stop.12 The pedestrian Grič tunnel links Mesnička and Radićeva.26

How many people live in Gornji grad?

The Gornji grad committee area had 2,137 residents at the 2021 census and 2,605 in 2011. It also takes in the Jurjevska forest, Cmrok and part of Ksaver, so the figure covers more than the people inside the old walls.2,27,6

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We wrote this from the sources above, checked on the date shown; every figure in the text links to its source. Rent figures are computed live from the listings.

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