RemetinecFrom a Pauline estate to Novi Zagreb's first housing blocks

Remetinec at a glance

• To the main square by ZET48 min
• To the centre as the crow flies6.0 km
• Residents (2021)²5,452
• Committee area²166 ha

Where Remetinec is

Remetinec is in Novi Zagreb (New Zagreb), in the city district of Novi Zagreb – zapad (west). Officially it is covered by the Remetinec local committee (mjesni odbor), number 12 in that district, based at Trg Narodne zaštite 2 and covering 166.02 hectares. The committee area is part of the settlement of Zagreb, not a separate settlement.^2,3 Remetinečki gaj isn't a committee of its own but an estate and a street inside this one.^3,4 Neighbourhoods have no official boundaries, so this guide describes Remetinec through that committee.

Lanište lies to the north, Savski gaj to the east, Botinec and Sveta Klara to the south and Blato to the west; across Jadranska avenija the committee area also touches Kajzerica.^11,3 Officially it also takes in Arena Zagreb at Ulica Vice Vukova 8 and the shopping centres at house numbers Lanište 28–32, Arena Centar among them, although the press places them in Lanište.^4,36,37 The big Remetinec roundabout is not in the committee area but in the neighbouring Kajzerica committee.³⁸ Ulica dr. Luje Naletilića forms the committee's south-eastern edge, and house numbers 2–30C of that street belong to it; number 1 is Zatvor u Zagrebu, the Zagreb prison.^3,4,35

For and against: life in Remetinec

What life is like in Remetinec

Remetinec has three parts. According to Bauštela (2021), they are the older blocks of Remetinečki gaj, the new blocks of Jaruščica, and an older area of family houses, once a village gathered round its chapel on Karlovačka cesta.¹¹ All three appear in the committee's street list: Remetinečki gaj, Jaruščica, Ulica Remetinec, Jagatići, Dugootočka and parts of Karlovačka and Brezovička cesta.⁴

Remetinečki gaj was built in three phases between 1955 and 1978. According to Mlinar, its streets form a right-angled grid fitted to the gentle curve of Remetinečka cesta, in three bands from east to west, with Trg Narodne zaštite and the public buildings marking the eastern entrance.⁸ Its 12 hectares hold 20 residential blocks with 701 flats, seven public buildings, a hotel and 18 garages in two rows; as built, the density was 58 flats and 175 people per hectare.⁸

The estate is known for Jugomont's prefab blocks, nicknamed limenke ("tin cans") because their facades are clad in sheet metal.^8,9 Between 1960 and 1964 three JU-60 blocks went up here, followed by three four-storey and eight five-storey JU-61 blocks.⁸ The builder Novogradnja put up the third phase in the 1970s: a five-storey block by Božidar Tušek in 1975, an eight-storey block by Borivoj Feldman in 1976, a nursery the same year and a workers' hotel in 1978.⁸

The Jaruščica blocks were built in the 2000s.^8,33 In 2021 Bauštela found Jaruščica full of salons, restaurants, cafés and play centres, and described old Remetinečki gaj as living "in the shadow of the Arena and the neighbouring modern buildings".¹¹

According to a City analysis, the committee area's population rose by 81% between 2001 and 2011, to 4,271 at the 2011 census; the 2021 census counted 5,452.^7,6,2 The same analysis groups Remetinec with Lanište, Savski gaj, Trnsko and Siget as densely built areas of multi-storey housing.⁷ In 2014 Mlinar noted that Arena Zagreb and Arena Centar, in the north of the committee area, had brought more traffic.⁸

Remetinečki gaj

The estate built between 1955 and 1978, with 701 flats. Until 1994 it was called Naselje februarskih žrtava.⁸

Jaruščica

Blocks of flats from the 2000s. Since 2008 a new stretch of Ulica Remetinec, from Karlovačka cesta to Jadranska avenija, has led to them.^8,33

The old village

Family houses on Karlovačka and Brezovička cesta, Ulica Remetinec, Jagatići and Dugootočka, with a chapel from 1935.^4,11,15

The Arena

Arena Zagreb (2008) and the shopping centres at house numbers Lanište 28–32.^4,36,37

Where the name Remetinec comes from

The area was once called Tupal and belonged to the Pauline monks.^1,10,11 According to Večernji list, the Tupal estate first appears in records in 1339, and it had been granted to the Paulines of Remete.¹⁰ According to Bauštela, the name Remetinec points to the Pauline monks of Remete, who owned the land.¹¹

A short history of Remetinec

In the mid-19th century the village had 168 people.^10,11 The chapel of Our Lady Queen of Croats was built in 1935 on the initiative of a local man, Milan Golubić, and blessed by Archbishop Antun Bauer.^15,13 From 1941 the Remetinec firm Hoyer, owned by Zorislav Franjetić, made prestressed concrete beams; nationalised after the war as Jugobeton, it merged with Jugomont in 1969.⁹

On 10 February 1945 the Ustaše publicly executed 30 antifascists, women and men, in Remetinec, on the site where the estate later stood. The estate was named after them: Naselje februarskih žrtava, the Settlement of the February Victims.^12,11 On 23 December 1949 parts of the Remetinec and Gaj local people's committees were joined to the City of Zagreb.¹ In 1955 the municipality of Remetinec was created, with 23,000 people on 232 km², bounded by the Sava, Velika Gorica, Jastrebarsko and Samobor; it covered all of today's Novi Zagreb and Brezovica.^8,1 By 1957 it was counted as part of the city proper, and it ran on its own until 1967.^1,8

The estate's first building was the municipal hall, designed by Herman Kosar and V. Kovačec; work began in 1955, and it now houses the VI. police station.^8,38 Kosar's blocks of flats north of it were built in 1956 and 1957 for the municipality's staff, who moved in in 1957.^8,11 The same year the municipal library, Knjižnica Remetinec, was founded with 1,500 books and 137 members; today it is Knjižnica Savski gaj.²⁰ According to Mlinar, building of the health centre, now a unit of Dom zdravlja Zagreb – Centar, began in 1959, and children from the estate have gone to OŠ Savski gaj since 1961.⁸

The parish of Majka Božja Remetinec-Blato was founded on 20 December 1964.^13,15 From 1974 to 1990 the same territory was the municipality of Novi Zagreb.¹ Centar za kulturu Novi Zagreb was founded on 5 May 1977 in part of the former Kino Remetinec cinema.^16,10 In 1994 Naselje februarskih žrtava was renamed Remetinečki gaj.^8,11 The 2000s brought Jaruščica, a new parish church and Arena Zagreb, opened on 17 January 2009 for the World Handball Championship, and Arena Centar opened on 5 November 2010.^8,13,36,37

1. 14th c.The Tupal estate appears in records; Večernji list gives 1339.^10,11
2. Mid-19th c.The village of Remetinec has 168 people.^10,11
3. 1935The chapel of Our Lady Queen of Croats is built.^15,13
4. 1945On 10 February the Ustaše publicly execute 30 antifascists, women and men, on the site of the future estate.^12,11
5. 1949On 23 December parts of Remetinec and Gaj are joined to the city.¹
6. 1955The municipality of Remetinec is created, covering 232 km²; work starts on its hall.^8,1
7. 1957Municipal staff move into the first flats; Knjižnica Remetinec is founded.^8,20
8. 1961Children from the estate start going to OŠ Savski gaj.⁸
9. 1964The parish of Majka Božja Remetinec-Blato is founded.^13,15
10. 1977Centar za kulturu Novi Zagreb is founded in part of the former Kino Remetinec.^16,10
11. 1994Naselje februarskih žrtava is renamed Remetinečki gaj.^8,11
12. 2009Arena Zagreb officially opens on 17 January.³⁶
13. 2010Arena Centar opens on 5 November.³⁷
14. 2025Work starts on the new DV Remetinec nursery building on Ulica Vice Vukova.^23,24

What to see in Remetinec

• Centar za kulturu Novi Zagreb

  At Trg Narodne zaštite 2. Vladimir Turina designed the building as a council chamber in 1957 and 1958, and it opened in 1963 as a 500-seat cinema.⁸ Since 1977 it has housed the cultural centre, with a large hall and Galerija Vladimir Bužančić, called Galerija Spektar until 2002.^16,17

• The old municipal hall

  The estate's first building, built from 1955 to a design by Herman Kosar and V. Kovačec. It was the seat of the municipality of Remetinec and now houses the VI. police station.^8,38

• Memorial to the victims of fascism

  According to Antifašistički vjesnik, the memorial to fallen fighters and victims of fascism in Remetinečki gaj is 4 metres high and made of Sljeme stone. A marble plaque lists the victims of February 1945.¹²

• Chapel of Our Lady Queen of Croats

  The old village church on Karlovačka cesta, built in 1935. It has a single nave measuring 15 × 7 metres, and its feast day is 22 August.^15,13,11

• Parish church of Our Lady

  At Remetinečki gaj 29. Building began on 28 July 2003 to an outline design by Josip Horvat, and the first Mass was said on 16 May 2004. It has 200 seats and room for 550 standing.^14,13,8

• Park Dinka Fija

  Named after the composer and conductor Dinko Fijo, who lived in Remetinec for fifty years; the City's naming committee backed the name in 2015.^19,5 On 25 April 2026 the cultural centre held a klapa concert there for his 102nd birthday.¹⁸

• Arena Zagreb

  At Ulica Vice Vukova 8. Its operator calls it the largest sports hall in Croatia. It took 503 days to build, starting on 21 July 2007, for the 2009 World Handball Championship.^36,4

• Hostel Arena

  Built in 1978 as a workers' hotel for the builder Novogradnja, it is now Hostel Arena.^8,36

Did you know?

• 1The municipality of Remetinec covered 232 km², almost half of Zagreb's area at the time. According to Večernji list, the name Remetinec was used for it for about ten years.^8,10
• 2The Croatian Technical Encyclopaedia counts Jugomont's limenke among the important artefacts of Croatian technical heritage.⁹
• 3Today's Knjižnica Savski gaj, founded in 1957 as Knjižnica Remetinec, ran a mobile library inside the Mega factory from 1976.²⁰
• 4In November 2024 the City called OŠ Savski gaj, the school for all of Remetinec, Croatia's second-largest primary school, with almost 1,200 pupils.²⁶

Everyday life in Remetinec

Renting in Remetinec

Nearby neighbourhoods

• LaništeNeighbourhood guide
• BlatoNeighbourhood guide
• BotinecNeighbourhood guide
• Savski gajNeighbourhood guide
• Sveta KlaraNeighbourhood guide
• TrnskoNeighbourhood guide

• Compare districts: New Zagreb – West and Brezovica
• Compare districts: New Zagreb – West and New Zagreb – East
• Compare districts: New Zagreb – West and Podsused – Vrapče
• All Zagreb neighbourhood guides

Questions about life in Remetinec