Savski gajOne of Novi Zagreb's first two estates, with streets numbered I to XIII

Savski gaj at a glance

• To the main square by ZET35 min
• To the centre as the crow flies4.7 km
• MO residents, incl. Trokut (2021)^1,35,343
• Blocks begun^8,101957

Where Savski gaj is

Savski gaj is in Novi Zagreb, south of Avenija Dubrovnik and east of Remetinečka cesta, at the Remetinec roundabout.² It belongs to the city district of Novi Zagreb – zapad (west) and is covered by the district's 13th local committee (mjesni odbor, MO), Savski gaj, based at Remetinečka cesta 79.^1,2 That committee also covers neighbouring Trokut, so every figure for it includes both neighbourhoods.^3,4 The committee area is part of the settlement of Zagreb, not a separate settlement.²

Under the 2020 boundary description, the committee area is bounded by the south side of Avenija Dubrovnik to the north, Remetinečka cesta to the west (the roundabout itself is left out), the Zagreb – Sisak railway to the east and a connecting line to the south, as far as Ulica dr. Luje Naletilića, from where the boundary runs north across the Zagreb – Karlovac railway.² Siget and Trnsko lie beyond the Sisak railway.² Wikipedia lists Kajzerica, Lanište, Remetinec, Sveta Klara and Trokut as neighbouring areas.^5,6

For and against: life in Savski gaj

What life is like in Savski gaj

Savski gaj has two parts: a planned estate of blocks of flats to the north, Novi Savski gaj, and an older area of family houses to the south.^12,7,8 The first blocks, in 1957, were built onto the existing settlement of Savski gaj.⁷ Kristian Strukić of the Zagreb City Museum counts part of Savski gaj among Novi Zagreb's unplanned post-war suburbs of family houses, like Trokut and Podbrežje.¹¹ The 2025 amendments to the General Urban Plan list the northern part among completed estates to be protected and kept up, and the houses of Trokut and Savski gaj among areas of individual building marked for urban renewal.¹²

According to the Arhitektura Zagreba website, the residential tower at Naserov trg 1, built around 1964, dominates the estate by its height.¹³ English Wikipedia describes a number of smaller blocks around it and many small houses.⁶

In the house area most streets have a number rather than a name, from I. to XIII. Savski gaj. Prekratova, Isanska, Rivanjski put and a few others do have names.^14,4 According to Croatian Wikipedia, the parish church stands in an area of medium-density, low-rise building, mostly family houses.²⁰

The actor and TV presenter Darko Janeš moved to Savski gaj at six months old. In a 2025 interview with Gloria he said there were only overgrown meadows around them and that he remembers a carefree childhood.³⁰

The local committee area, Trokut included, had 5,113 residents and 2,496 dwellings at the 2011 census, and 5,343 residents on 71.37 hectares at the 2021 census.^39,1,3

Novi Savski gaj

The planned northern part, with blocks around Nehruov trg and Naserov trg, built from 1957.^8,12

The houses of Savski gaj

The older area of family houses south of the blocks, with streets known by numbers.^7,12,14,4

Trokut

The neighbouring area that shares Savski gaj's local committee. Its name ("triangle") comes from the three railway lines that enclose it.^3,15

Where the name Savski gaj comes from

According to the property news site Bauštela, the estate was named after a stretch of woodland that local people of the time called the savski gaj, the "Sava grove".¹⁵ Ivan Mlinar, writing in the magazine Korak u prostor, calls the planned northern part Novi Savski gaj (New Savski gaj).⁸

The City and the local committee write "Savski gaj"; the school and the market write "Savski Gaj".^1,32,34

A short history of Savski gaj

Until the 1950s the land south of the Sava was river side-arms, meadows and fields with scattered village houses.⁸ The area belonged to the municipality of Remetinec, founded in 1955 and counted as part of the city proper from 1957.⁸ That same year building began in Novi Savski gaj, right after Remetinečki gaj, and Mladen Klemenčić calls the two the first estates of Novi Zagreb.^8,10,9

Novi Zagreb's first public library was the municipal Knjižnica Remetinec, today's Knjižnica Savski gaj. It started with 1,500 books and had 137 members in 1957.^22,23 The school on Remetinečka cesta was built from 1959 to a design by Z. Selinger, pupils have attended it since 1961, and its gym went up in 1964.⁸

At the end of 1965 the city transport company ZET introduced bus line 43. It ran in a half-circle from Ulica Grgura Ninskog behind Hotel Esplanade over Most slobode, stopping in Siget, Trnsko and Savski gaj, then up Remetinečka cesta and over Savski most to Mažuranićev trg.¹⁶ According to Klemenčić, in the 1970s it was the only link to the city centre, with its schools and faculties, for those growing up in those estates.¹⁶ In 1985 a new tram line by way of Jadranski most and a new two-level roundabout by Savski gaj closed the ring through Novi Zagreb, following, as Klemenčić notes, line 43's route.^17,16

For a long time there was no church. In 1966 Cardinal Franjo Šeper set up a branch of the Remetinec parish in Savski gaj, and Mass was said in a converted family house on Prekratova.^19,18 The parish of the Holy Angels was founded on 19 April 1981.^18,19 Pope John Paul II blessed the foundation stone of the new church in 1994. It was built by 1996, largely with parishioners' donations and volunteer work, and after the parish priest died in February 1996 his successor, Ivan Topolnjak, finished it.^19,18,20,21

The school was extended in 2007 to a design by Anita Dujmić Renić of Capital Ing, and the library gained 32 m² of storage the same year.^8,22 In February 2026 an underpass under the railway to Trokut was completed; residents had waited decades for it, Jutarnji list reported.^3,38

1. 1955The municipality of Remetinec, to which the area belonged, is founded.⁸
2. 1957Building begins in Novi Savski gaj, beside the existing settlement of Savski gaj.^7,8,10
3. 1961Pupils move into the new school on Remetinečka cesta, today's OŠ Savski gaj.⁸
4. c. 1964The residential tower at Naserov trg 1 goes up.¹³
5. 1965ZET introduces bus line 43 through Siget, Trnsko and Savski gaj.¹⁶
6. 1966Cardinal Šeper sets up a branch of the Remetinec parish in Savski gaj.^19,18
7. 1976The library runs a mobile branch in the Mega factory.²²
8. 1981The parish of the Holy Angels is founded.^18,19
9. 1985A new tram line closes the Novi Zagreb ring via Jadranski most and the roundabout by Savski gaj.^17,16
10. 1986When the central library opens in Travno, the old library takes the name Knjižnica Savski gaj.^23,22
11. 1992A scout troop starts with pupils of OŠ Savski gaj.²⁷
12. 1994–1996The Church of the Holy Angels is built.^19,18,20
13. 2007The church is consecrated and the school extended.^18,20,8
14. 2026The pedestrian and cycle underpass to Trokut is completed.^3,38

What to see in Savski gaj

• Church of the Holy Angels

  On Prekratova ulica; the parish office is at Prekratova 69. According to Laudato TV, it is the only parish in the Zagreb archdiocese named after the guardian angels.^18,21 Croatian Wikipedia names Stjepan Krajač as its architect and says the church is set back on its plot, so a large square opens in front of it. Cardinal Josip Bozanić consecrated it on 15 April 2007.^20,18

• The tower at Naserov trg 1

  A residential tower built around 1964 to a design by Borivoj Feldman of the GP Novogradnja bureau. According to Arhitektura Zagreba, it dominates the estate by its height, and an identical tower by the same architect stands in Trnsko.¹³

• OŠ Savski gaj

  At Remetinečka cesta 64a, at the western edge of the estate. Built from 1959 to a design by Z. Selinger and extended in 2007.^32,8

• Knjižnica Savski gaj

  The library at Nehruov trg 46, a branch of Knjižnica Novi Zagreb. Its 2025 report gives 41,578 books and 5,505 members in 181 m².^24,25

• Narodne novine

  The publisher of Croatia's official gazette has its seat at Savski gaj XIII. 6. According to its 2015 masthead, the gazette was printed and dispatched from Savski gaj XIII. put 13.^28,29

• The underpass to Trokut

  At the end of Ulica Leopolda Tepeša, completed in February 2026. The reinforced-concrete underpass is 12.2 m long, 4.5 m wide and 3 m high, with a new 100 m path and lighting. The project was worth about €1.5 million before VAT, and the underpass was built by Cenoza promet with Croatian Railways (HŽ).^3,38

Did you know?

• 1Mladen Klemenčić writes that Branimir Štulić of Azra immortalised line 43 in his song about "Krvava Meri". In the song as recorded in 1980, Štulić no longer mentions it as a line still running.¹⁶
• 2At Knjižnica Savski gaj children read aloud to a trained therapy dog in the programme "Čitaj uz Rubi i slova ne gubi", from 15 October 2026 to 28 May 2027.²⁶
• 3In October 2025 Mayor Tomislav Tomašević called OŠ Savski gaj, with almost 1,250 pupils, the largest school in Zagreb and probably in Croatia.³¹
• 4According to Klemenčić, the school was once named after the brothers Kamilo and Klaudije Horvat, young communists (SKOJ members) from the area.⁹

Everyday life in Savski gaj

Renting in Savski gaj

Nearby neighbourhoods

• LaništeNeighbourhood guide
• TrnskoNeighbourhood guide
• KajzericaNeighbourhood guide
• SigetNeighbourhood guide
• New ZagrebNeighbourhood guide
• Sveta KlaraNeighbourhood 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 Savski gaj