RemizaThe neighbourhood named after a tram depot

Remiza at a glance

• To the main square by ZET28 min
• To the centre as the crow flies3.5 km
• Depot opened^1,4,91936
• Depot capacity^4,9180 trams

Where Remiza is

According to the Mapiranje Trešnjevke project, Remiza is the old Vurovčica: the area between the Črnomerec stream to the west, Ozaljska ulica to the north, Selska cesta to the east and Zagrebačka avenija to the south.⁵ The tram depot at Ozaljska 105 and the Ljubljanica terminus beside it lie by the stream, with Fallerovo šetalište running along the depot's west side.^46,5,11

Remiza is in the city district of Trešnjevka – sjever, which has ten local committees (mjesni odbori).³⁷ Under the 2013 street lists, Mošćenička, Veprinačka and Puljska streets and the depot at Ozaljska 105 belong to the Pongračevo committee, which also covers Pongračevo itself, north of Ozaljska. Across the stream is the Ljubljanica committee.^34,35,36 Remiza is a name from everyday speech and has no official boundary.

For and against: life in Remiza

What life is like in Remiza

In 1929–1930 the City built Naselje Istrana i invalida (the Istrians' and Invalids' Estate) at Mošćenička 2–16 and Veprinačka 1–15, to a design by Ivan Zemljak.^12,14 It was built for refugees from Istria and Rijeka, which Italy had annexed; war invalids moved in too, and according to the Muzej susjedstva Trešnjevka neighbourhood museum they made up 30% of the tenants.^14,15 Sixteen standard two-storey blocks, each with four to six flats, stand around a long lawn edged with trees, about ninety flats in all.^13,14,15 According to Darja Radović Mahečić's 1993 study, the flats range from one room with a kitchen niche to three rooms, and every flat has windows on two sides.¹³ Open House Zagreb lists the estate as a protected architectural ensemble.¹⁵

At Ozaljska 93 stands the residential and office tower known as Trešnjevačka ljepotica, "the Trešnjevka Beauty", built in 1967–1969 to a design by Slavko Jelinek and Miroslav Pašagić (AGI-46).^21,23 It went up with sliding formwork, a technique used until then almost only for industrial buildings.^21,23 According to the City's earthquake-risk study, it has 23 storeys above ground and is about 73 metres tall.²² Mapiranje Trešnjevke credits the nickname to the Večernji list journalist Elena Cvetkova, who coined it when the tower was finished.²³

Where the name Remiza comes from

The word remiza means a shed for vehicles, a tram depot for example; it came into Croatian from the German Remise, which in turn comes from the French remise.^2,3 Its older meaning is a hunting term: a thicket where game takes shelter.^2,3 The local historian Fernando Soprano derives the word from the Italian rimessa da carri, a store for carts, while dictionaries trace it through German to French.⁴

Nives Opačić writes in Vijenac that the Trešnjevka depot, unlike the one in Dubrava, gave its name to the surrounding neighbourhood, and Mapiranje Trešnjevke that the name Remiza gradually caught on among locals.^1,5 According to Večernji list, the depot itself was called Vurovčica when it opened, after the locality and a nearby street.⁹ The depot stands on land once called Berek, near the old village of Ljubljanica.⁸ The terminus is officially called Ljubljanica, though many people call it Remiza.^45,10 None of the sources we checked says where the name Vurovčica comes from.

A short history of Remiza

The Črnomerec stream was the boundary between two estates and Zagreb's western boundary, and the western part of today's district stayed outside the city until 1945.⁸ The village of Ljubljanica, across the stream, appears in written documents from the mid-18th century.⁸ Ivan Zemljak designed both the Istrian estate, built in 1929–1930, and the school at Selska cesta 95, built in 1930–1931 and ceremonially opened on 28 June 1932.^12,38

Zagreb's first tram depot, from 1891, was on Savska cesta, on the site of today's Technical Museum.⁸ Over time it became too small, part of the fleet spent the night in the street, and half the depot was demolished when Tratinska was widened.^4,10,11 In 1935 ZET paid for a railway overpass on Tratinska and extended the line along Tratinska and Ozaljska to the Črnomerec stream.^4,10 The new depot, on 18 jutara of land (the jutro is an old land measure) with two reinforced-concrete halls for 180 tram cars, opened on 11 February 1936.^1,4,8,9 According to the local historian Fernando Soprano, the urban planner Vlado Antolić worked on the project and on the arched reinforced-concrete structure, with Zvonimir Kavurić, Franjo Bahovec and Josip Gaupp.⁴ ZET says the depot and its workshops kept working without a break through both the Second World War and the Homeland War of the 1990s.⁹

In the 1950s the motorway that is now Zagrebačka avenija cut Vurovčica in two, and the northern part came to be known as Remiza.^5,6,7 The northern stretch of Vurovčica street was renamed Puljska, while the southern stretch, across the avenue, still carries the old name.^5,6 In the late 1960s the tower at Ozaljska 93 and the sports hall at Veprinačka 16 went up, and in 1972 the Nama department store opened by the terminus.^21,24,31,9 Nama traded there until the late 1990s.³²

According to Jutarnji list, around 2020 the company Immobiliare Jurić took over the former Nama building and announced a glass tower. The neighbourhood opposed it, and the building later passed to Zagreb World Center.³² In 2023, during the amendments to the city's master plan (GUP), the Trešnjevka – sjever district council asked for the depot site to be rezoned as a public park. The City refused: the plan moves the depot to Jankomir, and until that happens the existing depot must be able to work normally.⁴⁷ According to Croatia Week, in February 2026 the City contracted the concept design for the extended Ulica Črnomerec, a green corridor of almost 3.5 km with a planned tram line between Ozaljska and Horvaćanska.⁴⁹

1. 18th c.The neighbouring village of Ljubljanica appears in written documents.⁸
2. 1929–1930The City builds the Istrians' and Invalids' Estate to Ivan Zemljak's design.^12,14
3. 1932The primary school at Selska cesta 95, now OŠ Augusta Šenoe, is ceremonially opened.³⁸
4. 1936The tram depot officially opens on 11 February.^1,4,9
5. 1941Bishop Josip Lach consecrates the Corpus Domini chapel at Mošćenička 3.^16,17
6. 1950sThe motorway that is now Zagrebačka avenija cuts Vurovčica in two.^5,6,7
7. 1954The children's drama group that became Kazalište Trešnja gives its first full performance.¹⁹
8. 1964The Sava flood damages the Corpus Domini chapel and gets into OŠ Ljubljanica.^17,40
9. 1969The Trešnjevačka ljepotica tower is finished, and the sports hall at Veprinačka 16 is first used.^21,23,24,25
10. 1971The first Kutija šibica five-a-side tournament, named after the hall, is played.^26,27
11. 1972The Nama department store opens by the terminus.^31,9
12. 1999The Kazalište Trešnja building is finished.¹⁹
13. 2021The Pongračevo branch school opens.^38,39
14. 2026The depot turns 90, and according to Croatia Week the City contracts the concept design for the extended Ulica Črnomerec.^9,49

What to see in Remiza

• Trešnjevka tram depot

  At Ozaljska 105, also ZET's head office.⁴⁶ Its two reinforced-concrete arches are each about 25 metres wide, and it is still fully in use.^9,11 According to ZET's 2025 business plan it is the base for day lines 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 12 and 17 and night lines 32 and 34, and the plan budgets one million euros for new industrial doors.⁴⁶ When the depot turned 90, Večernji list reported leaking halls and worn tracks.⁹

• Ljubljanica terminus

  The tram and bus terminal beside the depot, with its bus platforms on Fallerovo šetalište.^5,45 The former Nama building, opened in 1972, stands empty, and the plateau below it is privately owned.^31,32,33

• Istrians' and Invalids' Estate

  Mošćenička 2–16 and Veprinačka 1–15: sixteen two-storey blocks with attics around a shared lawn, built in 1929–1930.^12,15 According to the Muzej susjedstva Trešnjevka, the building terms gave 20 days to get the roofs on and 60 to finish.¹⁴

• Trešnjevačka ljepotica

  Ozaljska 93, finished in 1969.^21,23 According to Mapiranje Trešnjevke, the AGI-46 architects had their offices at the top, on the 22nd floor.²³

• Kazalište Trešnja

  Mošćenička 1. Andrija Mutnjaković designed the building as a reconstruction of the Maksim Gorki culture house, which had gone up as part of the Istrian emigrants' settlement; it was finished in 1999.^20,19 According to Open House Zagreb, the façade is a mosaic of colourful ceramic tiles showing cherry-tree crowns, the symbol of Trešnjevka, and a red sphere on the roof stands for a cherry.²⁰

• Corpus Domini chapel

  Mošćenička 3. The house and chapel were built in 1941, and Bishop Josip Lach consecrated the chapel on 20 July 1941.^16,17 It is decorated in the manner of the Beuron school, to designs by the Benedictine nun Gertrudis Dold; according to the archdiocese, Dragutin Maraković painted the frescoes.^16,17 Daytime adoration has been held there since 1943, and the Sisters of the Visitation have lived there since 1947.^16,17 The chapel was damaged in the 2020 earthquake, and repairs began on 13 July 2020.¹⁸

• The sports park and the Matchbox

  Veprinačka 16, right next to the Istrian estate: NK Trešnjevka's ground, known as Graba, tennis courts and a sports hall.^5,28,29 Slavko Jelinek designed the hall, made in 1969 by roofing over an existing open court.^24,25 According to Mladen Klemenčić, even with temporary stands it held no more than about 2,000 spectators, sitting almost at the edge of the court, hence the nickname Kutija šibica, "the Matchbox".²⁵ At the 2016 European Universities Games it hosted futsal and basketball.³⁰

• Fallerovo šetalište

  The promenade along the Črnomerec stream, on the west side of the depot, where the city buses stop.^5,11 It is named after Nikola Faller (1862–1938), a conductor and composer whom the Croatian Wikipedia credits with the first Croatian crossword, published in 1925.⁵¹

Did you know?

• 1The Kutija šibica tournament was first played in January 1971 with eight teams. In 1977 it moved to Dom sportova but kept the hall's name. The record, 648 teams, came in 1985.^26,27
• 2NK Trešnjevka played in Yugoslavia's top division from 1963/64 to 1965/66, and in the 1963/64 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup it met Belenenses of Portugal.^7,28
• 3In 2019 Večernji list wrote about the Landsky 30 bar, opened at Ozaljska 146 on the terminus and named after Paula Landsky, whom the paper calls ZET's first female conductor. She took her husband's place during the First World War, and 30 was the number on his bag.^50,4
• 4Trešnjevačka balada, a song by Drago Britvić and Zvonko Špišić, mentions the first trams leaving Remiza.^7,9
• 5At the depot's fourth open day, in September 2026, the historic M24 and TMK 101 trams gave free rides between Ljubljanica and the city centre.⁴⁸

Everyday life in Remiza

Renting in Remiza

Nearby neighbourhoods

• SrednjaciNeighbourhood guide
• LjubljanicaNeighbourhood guide
• HorvatiNeighbourhood guide
• KnežijaNeighbourhood guide
• GrediceNeighbourhood guide
• TrešnjevkaNeighbourhood guide

• Compare districts: Trešnjevka – North and Črnomerec
• Compare districts: Trešnjevka – North and Lower Town
• Compare districts: Trešnjevka – North and Stenjevec
• All Zagreb neighbourhood guides

Questions about life in Remiza