JelkovecAn old village on a Roman road and a new estate of musicians' streets

Jelkovec at a glance

• To the main square by ZET57 min
• To the centre as the crow flies10.1 km
• Residents (2021)^1,28,491
• Estate built^11,102006–2009

Where Jelkovec is

Jelkovec is in the city district of Sesvete. It is covered by two local committees (mjesni odbori), Jelkovec (the old village) and Novi Jelkovec (the new estate), and officially both cover part of the settlement of Sesvete.^1,2,3 Jelkovec was a settlement in its own right until, sometime between 1981 and 1991, it and nine other surrounding settlements were merged into Sesvete.⁴ Neighbourhoods have no official boundaries, so this guide describes Jelkovec through those two committees.

The centre of Sesvete is to the north, across the railway. City plans see the former Sljeme factory site between them as the link between the centre and Novi Jelkovec.^4,5 The Jelkovec committee area borders Novi Jelkovec and takes in Filipovićeva, Ištvanićeva and Pirinova streets, Savska cesta and Nova cesta, the Rimski odvojci, and parts of Rimski put, Jelkovečka cesta, Ulica Ljudevita Posavskog, Industrijska cesta and Slavonska avenija.^3,4

For and against: life in Jelkovec

What life is like in Jelkovec

Jelkovec is two very different places. City planners describe old Jelkovec as mostly family houses and one of the least densely built parts of Sesvete; the parish counts about 400 family houses there.^4,27 Novi Jelkovec is a planned estate of residential and commercial blocks four to six storeys high, designed for about 8,200 people at a density of about 246 residents per hectare.^14,12,15,4

The estate's plan is orthogonal and linear, with four recognisable parts, each with its own type of building.^14,12,15 As the urban planner Ivan Mlinar describes them, Megastruktura joins buildings into one big block around a central park with an underground garage; Prsti ("Fingers") alternates linear parks with rectangular blocks; Park-šuma ("Park forest") sets square blocks in a large park; and Elipsa ("Ellipse") alternates rectangular blocks with stepped roofs and strips of park.¹⁴

The estate has 54 residential and commercial buildings in four blocks, on 390,362 m² of land.^16,17 A 2015 study by the Institute for Social Research (IDIZ) gives an average planned flat size of about 83 m², with shops on the ground floors and garages and storage in the basements.¹⁵

In 2009 the City counted 2,713 flats in all. Of these, 1,265 were for sale to young families at affordable prices and 1,448 went to the City: 800 for social rent from the City's priority list, 100 on the recommendation of City offices, and 548 for public rent, mainly to young families.^10,15,11 IDIZ describes this as a deliberate social mix of social tenants, public-rental tenants and owners.¹⁵

In a 2014 interview study, most residents rated the estate's public infrastructure very satisfactory and its transport acceptable, after extra bus lines were added at their request. The authors conclude that the estate was doing considerably better than its early media image suggested.¹⁵ In 2024 one resident described it to Kulturpunkt as "Croatia in miniature".²¹

All 15 streets of Novi Jelkovec are named after 20th-century musicians and music writers, from Dragan Plamenac and Ladislav Šaban to Vladimir Stahuljak. Ivana Lang is the only woman among them.^3,26 According to the 2024 Jane's Walk programme, it is the newest such quarter in Zagreb, after Podsused and Prečko.²⁶

Jelkovec

The old village, mostly family houses. The local committee area covers 252.1 ha, is based at Filipovićeva 2 and had 1,188 residents at the 2021 census.^2,4

Novi Jelkovec

The estate built in 2006–2009, called Sopnica-Jelkovec in the plans. The local committee area covers 39.47 ha, is based at Ulica Ljudevita Posavskog 25a and had 7,303 residents at the 2021 census.^1,11,15

Where the name Jelkovec comes from

The sources we checked don't explain where the name Jelkovec comes from. The village appears under that name among the settlements recorded in written documents of the 15th and 16th centuries.^30,27

In the plans and in the City's 2009 texts the new estate is called Sopnica-Jelkovec; later it became Novi Jelkovec, "New Jelkovec".^15,10,7

A short history of Jelkovec

A Roman road ran through Jelkovec from Siscia (Sisak) via Andautonia to Poetovio (Ptuj). Beside it stood a milestone of Emperor Maximinus Thrax marking the distance from Siscia; the Croatian Natural History Museum dates it to 235, the parish to about 236.^25,26,27 It was found in 1934 beside today's Rimski put, and the original is kept by the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb.^25,27 According to the Natural History Museum, Andautonia, the Roman town on the same road at today's Šćitarjevo, is about 4.5 km away.²⁵

According to the parish, Stjepan Filipović became a canon of Zagreb in 1545. In 1573 the Zagreb Chapter granted him and his brothers an estate in Jelkovec in perpetual ownership, and in 1578 King Rudolf II made him a nobleman with a coat of arms.^27,29 The Croatian Sabor (parliament) confirmed the charter in 1579.²⁷ The Filipović family of Jelkovec still owns several of its historic charters, and the Prigorje Museum holds the one from 1573.²⁹ In 1929 the village had 160 Catholic residents, according to the parish.²⁷

From the mid-1960s the site of today's estate was the Sljeme company's pig farm. According to the Prigorje Museum curator Damir Fofić, quoted by Index.hr, it was built in 1964–1966 to fatten 100,000 pigs a year.⁹ The farm closed in 1999, and in November that year the whole 390,362 m² property was sold to the City of Zagreb for the kuna equivalent of 29,020,000 Deutschmarks.^8,7,16

The estate began as a project of the state's subsidised housing programme (POS), with the agency APN as the first investor; the City of Zagreb and Zagrebački holding later took it over.^12,15,11 The design competition was announced on 8 May 2003 and the detailed plan adopted on 27 November 2003. According to Mlinar, the competition, the plan and the main designs, together with Špansko – Oranice, took 204 days.^13,14,15 The winning team came from the Faculty of Architecture: Sanja Gašparović, Darija Maletić Mirko, Nataša Martinčić, Ivan Mlinar, Marija Premužić and Krunoslav Šmit.^12,15

On 24 August 2006 the City government declared the programme a social and economic interest of the City. Construction formally started on 9 October 2006, though according to Mlinar building really began only in 2007.^16,17,11,13 On 9 January 2008 the City leased 1,300 flats from Zagrebački holding for 15 years, and Holding committed to selling them to the City at the end for one kuna each.^17,18 On 29 April 2009 Mayor Milan Bandić handed over the first 69 keys and the key to the first flat sold, and 108 families moved in over two days.^10,11

The nursery and the primary school opened the same year, the library in 2012, the secondary school's building in 2014, and the sports hall and pool in 2017.^{40,31,42,36,38} In 2024 the City became the owner of 578 flats at the end of a ten-year lease-to-own agreement from 2014, and bought the 1,300 flats it had leased since 2008 for €169 in total.^16,20,17,19

1. 235/236A milestone of Emperor Maximinus Thrax stands on the Roman road at Jelkovec.^25,27
2. 1573The Zagreb Chapter grants the Filipović family an estate in Jelkovec in perpetual ownership.^27,29
3. 1934The milestone is found beside today's Rimski put.^25,27
4. 1964–1966The Sljeme company builds a pig farm.⁹
5. 1999The farm closes and its land is sold to the City of Zagreb.^8,7
6. 2003The design competition is held and the detailed plan for Sopnica-Jelkovec adopted.^13,14,15
7. 2006Construction formally starts on 9 October.^11,13
8. 2009The first families move in, and the En ten tini nursery and OŠ Jelkovec open.^10,40,31
9. 2011Cardinal Josip Bozanić proclaims the parish of Blessed John Paul II.^27,28
10. 2012Knjižnica Jelkovec, the library, opens.⁴²
11. 2014The Jelkovec secondary school moves into its new building, and bus 281 starts running to the main station.^36,37,47
12. 2017The sports hall and pool beside the secondary school open.³⁸
13. 2020A copy of the milestone is set up by the library, and the primary school is extended.^25,33
14. 2024The City becomes the owner of 578 flats and buys the 1,300 leased flats for €169.^16,20,17,19

What to see in Jelkovec

• Knjižnica Jelkovec

  The library at Ulica Vladimira Stahuljaka 3 opened in December 2012 with 17,000 books. According to Zagreb City Libraries (KGZ), it is the first building in Zagreb built for a public library. It has 875 m², with the children's section on the first floor and the adults' on the second.^42,26

• Rimski put and the milestone copy

  Rimski put follows the line of the Roman road, and the City's plan lists the road's route and Jelkovec as archaeological areas with special protection measures.^4,25 A cast copy of the milestone was unveiled on 3 December 2020 on the library's eastern plaza, beside the Rimski put walkway.^25,26

• Jelkovec pool and sports hall

  Opened beside the Jelkovec secondary school on 17 May 2017. The pool building has a 25 × 33 m main pool 2 m deep, a 12.5 × 8 m leisure pool and a 12.5 × 4 m children's pool; the hall, known as Plava tvrđava ("the Blue Fortress"), seats 700. Building began in October 2008 and stalled several times.³⁸ The handball club MRK Sesvete has played there since the 2018/19 season.³⁹

• The school buildings

  OŠ Jelkovec (2009) was designed by Hildegard Auf-Franić with Tin Sven Franić, Vanja Rister and Luka Korlaet. Franić and Rister also designed its 2020 extension of 1,210 m² with eight classrooms.^34,33 According to the Croatian Technical Encyclopedia, the secondary school with its hall, pool and outdoor pitches was designed by Emil Šverko with Neno Kezić.³⁵

• A parish in a fallout shelter

  The parish of Blessed John Paul II, proclaimed on 18 December 2011, has no church, so Mass and the rest of parish life take place in a fallout shelter near the primary school.^27,28

• Chapel of St Francis of Assisi

  A chapel in old Jelkovec from the early 1990s. The parish says building began in 1993, while Glas Koncila dates the first Mass to October 1991.^27,28

• Jelkovec cultural centre

  A space of about 1,400 to 1,500 m² in block A has stood unfinished since the estate was built in 2009.^21,22,23 In 2025 the City started procurement for its design, and in April 2026 listed it among five capital culture projects, with a large hall and workshop spaces.^23,24,22 According to Kulturpunkt, works are announced for 2027.²²

• Šuma Jelkovec

  Sesvete's urban plans name the Jelkovec wood and the Jelkovec drainage canal. The 2026 draft amendments to the city plan propose a protection measure for the wood for the first time.^5,4

Did you know?

• 1In 2024 the City bought 1,300 flats in Novi Jelkovec for €169 in total, €0.13 (one kuna) per flat, after 15 years of leasing them for 9,354,050.29 kuna a month.^17,18,19
• 2Mayor Bandić arrived at the first move-in on 29 April 2009 on the new bus line 279, Sesvete – Novi Jelkovec.¹⁰
• 3On 23 April 2014 a sequoia was planted outside the library in honour of the composer John Cage, who once visited the Music Biennale Zagreb. It is an art project by Saša Šimpraga, and the Croatian-American Society donated the sapling.⁴³
• 4The pool at the En ten tini nursery (4 × 8 m, 40 to 90 cm deep) opened in 2012 after almost three years of approvals; the mayor called it the first City nursery with a pool.⁴¹
• 5According to Glas Koncila in 2019, the parish has about 100 baptisms a year and 20 to 25 funerals.²⁸

Everyday life in Jelkovec

Renting in Jelkovec

Nearby neighbourhoods

• SesveteNeighbourhood guide
• DubecNeighbourhood guide
• RetkovecNeighbourhood guide
• ŽitnjakNeighbourhood guide
• DubravaNeighbourhood guide
• KlakaNeighbourhood guide

• Compare districts: Sesvete and Donja Dubrava
• Compare districts: Sesvete and Gornja Dubrava
• Compare districts: Sesvete and Peščenica – Žitnjak
• All Zagreb neighbourhood guides

Questions about life in Jelkovec