HorvatiA student village, a sports faculty and pools by the Sava

Horvati at a glance

• To the main square by ZET28 min
• To the centre as the crow flies3.7 km
• Residents of MO Horvati – Srednjaci (2021)²10,735
• Beds in the student village^13,12over 4,000

Where Horvati is

Horvati is in the south of Trešnjevka, in the city district of Trešnjevka – jug and the local committee (mjesni odbor) of Horvati – Srednjaci.^1,2 That committee also covers Srednjaci, north of Horvaćanska cesta, and Gredice to the west, which the local-history project Mapiranje Trešnjevke treats as a neighbourhood of its own.⁵ Horvati has no official boundaries, and the name is used loosely, so sources place it differently. In this guide Horvati is the south-east of the committee area around Horvaćanski zavoj: from Horvaćanska cesta in the north to the Sava in the south, between Gredice to the west and Selska cesta and Jarunska ulica to the east.^1,10,20

The committee's boundary runs down the east side of Selska cesta and the west side of Jarunska ulica.¹ The sources disagree on where exactly the old village lay: Mapiranje Trešnjevke puts its centre on the eastern part of Horvaćanska near Savska, while Nives Opačić places it south of Horvaćanska, down to Jadranski most.^6,7 By our reading of the boundary, that core near Savska and the Horvati primary school are on the other side, in MO Knežija, so the Knežija guide tells their story.^1,6

For and against: life in Horvati

What life is like in Horvati

Horvati is above all a campus and sports neighbourhood: the Faculty of Kinesiology, the student village and the Mladost sports park stand around Horvaćanski zavoj.^10,13,20 The faculty covers 14.5 hectares between Horvaćanska cesta to the north, Mladost to the south and the student village's pavilions to the east, and its buildings at Horvaćanski zavoj 15 went up in stages from 1961 to 1996.^10,11 The nearest blocks of flats are in Srednjaci, north of Horvaćanska, and in Gredice to the west.⁵

The "Stjepan Radić" student village at Jarunska 2 is also known as Radić, or Sava after the river, and has over 4,000 beds.^12,13 According to Studentski.hr, drawing on a paper by Petra Franić, it first had nine four-storey pavilions for 3,500 students in all, around a central building with a 500-seat restaurant and a 500-seat cinema.¹⁵ The last two pavilions opened in 2010, and the first big renovation, with refurbished rooms and new façades, came in 2015.^12,16,17

Pavilions 5 and 6 were last renovated before the 1987 Universiade, and one student, whose mother had also lived at Sava, told Dnevnik they looked much the same as in her day.^19,18 According to the Student Centre's plans announced in April and June 2026, a full renovation of both was due to start in late July and last about 18 months, with about 850 beds out of use meanwhile.^18,19

The whole Horvati – Srednjaci committee area, Srednjaci and Gredice included, had 10,735 residents on 112 hectares at the 2021 census, down from 11,829 in 2011.^2,4

Where the name Horvati comes from

According to the history page of OŠ Josipa Račića, the name comes from a Hungarian formation for the word Hrvat, "Croat".⁸ Nives Opačić adds that the villagers were refugees from south of the Kupa.⁷ Horvaćanska cesta and Horvaćanski zavoj, "the Horvati bend", are named after the village, and Opačić writes that every athlete at Mladost knows the bend.⁷

Trešnjevka's Horvati is not the village of the same name in Brezovica, about 20 km south-west of the centre; Hrvatska enciklopedija warns against mixing them up.³⁴

A short history of Horvati

In 1221 King Andrew II gave the area to the Zagreb Kaptol, and in 1242 Béla IV gave its eastern part to Gradec.³ The boundary, which mostly followed the Črnomerec stream, stayed Zagreb's western border until 1945.³ The Črnomerec is still the western boundary of the Horvati – Srednjaci committee.¹

According to Opačić, Horvati was the largest of the twenty-odd villages on today's Trešnjevka, and Selska cesta, the village road, led to it from Ilica; the road still ends by the Sava.⁷ A statute of 7 September 1850 joined Horvati to Zagreb as a commune of its own.^1,8

The College of Physical Culture began teaching in 1959 on Kačićeva ulica, and the foundation stone of its own buildings by Horvaćanska was laid on 14 November 1961.^10,11 The college joined the University of Zagreb in 1967, was called the Faculty of Physical Culture from 1973/74 and has been the Faculty of Kinesiology since 2001.^10,11 In the 1964 flood, according to OŠ Josipa Račića, the whole Horvati area stood under up to 2 metres of water.⁸ Most of the Mladost sports park was built or renovated for the 1987 Universiade, and that year the tram line along Horvaćanska cesta was extended to Jarun.^20,35,30

1. 1221Andrew II gives the area to the Zagreb Kaptol; in 1242 Béla IV gives its eastern part to Gradec.³
2. 1850A statute of 7 September joins Horvati to Zagreb as a commune of its own.^1,8
3. 1959The College of Physical Culture starts teaching on Kačićeva ulica.^10,11
4. 1961The foundation stone of the college's buildings by Horvaćanska cesta is laid.^10,11
5. 1964The Sava floods; the water in the Horvati area rises up to 2 metres.^8,3
6. 1987Zagreb hosts the Universiade, for which most of Mladost is built or renovated; the tram along Horvaćanska reaches Jarun.^35,20,30
7. 2001The Faculty of Physical Culture becomes the Faculty of Kinesiology.^10,11
8. 2009The Horvati – Srednjaci local committee is set up.³
9. 2010The student village's last two pavilions open; Mladost hosts the European Water Polo Championships.^12,25
10. 2026A renovation of pavilions 5 and 6 is announced; Mladost hosts the U16 Water Polo World Championships.^18,19,27

What to see in Horvati

• The "Stjepan Radić" student village

  At Jarunska 2, next to Mladost and the faculty. Inside are a gym, a cinema hall, classrooms, medical and dental surgeries, restaurants and a post office.¹²

• Mladost pools

  An indoor Olympic pool, 50 × 25 m, seating about 1,500, a teaching pool, and outdoor versions of both.^20,21 The operator says the swimming centre, like most of the park, was built for the 1987 Universiade.²⁰ It hosted the European Water Polo Championships in 2010 and, with Dubrovnik, in 2024.^25,21,26

• Mladost athletics stadium

  It stages the Hanžeković Memorial, an international athletics meeting first held in 1951.^24,22

• The cross at Selska and Horvaćanska

  A wayside crucifix at the junction of Selska and Horvaćanska cesta. Opačić writes that few drivers rushing for the green light notice it and that it recalls the lost village.⁷

Did you know?

• 1The Horvati – Srednjaci committee's official day is 7 September, the anniversary of Horvati joining Zagreb in 1850; it is celebrated on the weekend after.^1,9
• 2The women's rugby club Viktorija, Croatia's first according to the Trešnjevka neighbourhood museum, was founded on 7 September 2000. It trained on the HARK Mladost pitch by the Faculty of Kinesiology and folded in 2005.²⁸
• 3According to Studentski.hr, the student village lies west of Zagreb's old city bathing place.¹⁵ According to the Zagreb City Museum, the municipality bought land for a public bathing place on the Sava in 1926, and it was used until the late 1980s.²⁹

Everyday life in Horvati

Renting in Horvati

Nearby neighbourhoods

• SrednjaciNeighbourhood guide
• KnežijaNeighbourhood guide
• GrediceNeighbourhood guide
• RemizaNeighbourhood guide
• LjubljanicaNeighbourhood guide
• KajzericaNeighbourhood 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

Questions about life in Horvati