SopotTowers, architects' streets and the first tram across the Sava

Sopot at a glance

• To the main square by ZET28 min
• To the centre as the crow flies4.3 km
• Residents (2021)⁵6,433
• Tram since^18,191979

Where Sopot is

Sopot is a housing estate in Novi Zagreb, in the city district of Novi Zagreb – istok. Officially it is covered by Mjesni odbor Sopot, the district's sixth local committee (mjesni odbor), based at Ulica Viktora Kovačića 5.^5,6 The committee area is part of the settlement of Zagreb, and Sopot was never a separate settlement.⁶ Neighbourhoods have no official boundaries, so this guide describes Sopot through that committee's boundaries.

The committee area is bounded by Avenija Dubrovnik to the north, Ulica Savezne Republike Njemačke to the east, Islandska ulica to the south and Avenija Većeslava Holjevca to the west, the border with the Novi Zagreb – zapad district.^6,2 Središće lies to the north, Siget to the west and Utrine to the east.^2,6

For and against: life in Sopot

What life is like in Sopot

Sopot consists almost entirely of tower blocks and blocks of flats.^42,9 A City document for the amendments to the master plan (GUP) describes the original concept as a rhythm of tall residential buildings beside low buildings for services, all set in landscaped public green space.²⁹ The Zagreb Society of Architects calls it an estate strictly governed by its urban plan.⁹ An artists' map of Novi Zagreb by the theatercombinat project describes it as two mirror-image halves divided by a central belt with the nursery and the school.⁵⁰

Besides the six towers, Slavko Jelinek designed lower blocks planned at eight and four storeys, and each gained a floor before it was built.⁹ Parts of the estate were built by Industrogradnja, which also built parts of Zapruđe, Utrina and Dugave.¹⁶

The streets inside the estate are named after architects: Ostrogovićeva, Pičmanova, Potočnjakova, Šenova, Turinina, Ulica Huga Ehrlicha, Ulica Milovana Kovačevića, Ulica Viktora Kovačića and Zemljakova.^6,32,31 OŠ Ive Andrića ran a school project on those names and presented it at the 2025 European Heritage Days.³²

At the 2011 census the committee area had 7,428 residents and 3,948 dwellings on 0.44 km².⁷ At the 2021 census it had 6,433 residents, 995 fewer than ten years earlier. That is about 14,600 people per square kilometre.^5,7 The Zagreb regional office of the Tax Administration is also inside the committee area, at Avenija Dubrovnik 32.^47,6

Where the name Sopot comes from

According to the linguist Branimir Brgles, the name comes from the old Croatian word sopot, "a watercourse, spring or waterfall". Brgles counts Sopot among the Novi Zagreb micro-toponyms that preserve the memory of the Sava's former landscape.^1,2

Kristian Strukić of the Museum of the City of Zagreb's "Zagrebački kvartovi" project writes that the estate took a name already marked on old maps, as did Zapruđe, Siget, Utrina, Travno, Dugave, Sloboština and Lanište. Only Središće was a new name.³

A short history of Sopot

In 1957 the municipality of Remetinec, whose area included today's Novi Zagreb – istok, joined the municipalities of Zagreb's inner urban area.⁴ In 1961 fewer than 3,500 people lived on the whole territory of today's district, in the villages of Buzin, Otok, Jakuševec and Hrelić.⁴ The first plan for South Zagreb, drawn up in 1962 by a group led by Zdenko Kolacio, foresaw about 250,000 residents in 25 housing communities.³

In 1964 Vjenceslav Richter made an urban-design model for Sopot.^11,10 According to Express, he proposed slim blocks of flats of varying heights laid out in curves, knowing the model would not be accepted because the building method had already been decided.¹⁰ According to an article by Tamara Bjažić Klarin and Ivana Korlaet, in 1965 the Zagreb Urban Planning Institute ran invitational competitions for whole estates, Sopot among them, and the same year Boris Magaš published a piece titled "Sopot" in the journal Arhitektura.¹² The Croatian Encyclopaedia credits Josip Uhlik with the development plans for Zapruđe, Siget and Sopot.⁸

Sources disagree on when Sopot was built. The Zagreb Society of Architects says Slavko Jelinek, with his collaborator Stjepan Krajač, had built sixteen towers by 1967, six of them in Sopot.⁹ According to Rujana Rebernjak's doctoral thesis, the 1967 documentary Raste grad shows a model of Sopot and the estate under construction.¹³ A book by the Ivo Pilar Institute, following Valentina Gulin Zrnić, dates the building to 1970–1973, and Croatian Wikipedia to the 1970s.^14,2 Taken together, the sources suggest the estate was planned in the mid-1960s and built from the late 1960s into the 1970s.

The parish of the Body of Christ was founded on 31 May 1973, and Most mladosti, the Bridge of Youth, opened on 2 November that year.^20,21,19 OŠ Ive Andrića took its first pupils on 10 September 1975, and the Sopot nursery was built in 1976 and 1977.^23,28 According to Večernji list, work on the tram line began in 1978.¹⁸ The line from Držićeva over Most mladosti to Sopot opened on Sunday 25 November 1979 in front of thousands of people.^18,19,17 According to the same paper, the western line over Jadranski most to Sopot opened in 1985, closing the tram "ring" through Novi Zagreb.¹⁸

During the Homeland War OŠ Ive Andrića took in 180 displaced pupils.²³ Mjesni odbor Sopot is one of 11 local committees set up in the district in February 2009.^4,5 In 2024 HEP replaced district-heating pipes in Sopot.⁴³ According to Index.hr, the rebuilding of Turinina ulica, worth about €680,000 including VAT, was due to finish in November 2025 but was completed only in early April 2026. The contractor was fined.⁴⁵

1. 1962The plan for South Zagreb foresees about 250,000 residents in 25 housing communities.³
2. 1964Vjenceslav Richter makes an urban-design model for Sopot.^11,10
3. 1965The Urban Planning Institute runs invitational competitions for whole estates, Sopot among them.¹²
4. 1967By this year Slavko Jelinek has built six towers in Sopot; the film Raste grad shows the estate under construction.^9,13
5. 1973The parish of the Body of Christ is founded, and Most mladosti opens to traffic.^20,21,19
6. 1975OŠ Ive Andrića takes its first pupils; the writer Gustav Krklec opens it.²³
7. 1976–1977The Sopot nursery is built to a design by Aleksandar Dragomanović and Radovan Nikšić.²⁸
8. 1979The first tram across the Sava reaches Sopot.^18,19,17
9. 1985The western line over Jadranski most closes the tram "ring".¹⁸
10. 1991XIII. gimnazija is created when the Građevinski obrazovni centar is split up.²⁷
11. 1995A fundamental point of the national survey is set up in the Geodetska škola courtyard.²⁴
12. 2009Mjesni odbor Sopot is set up.^4,5
13. 2013Cardinal Josip Bozanić consecrates the Body of Christ church, built in 2005.^21,22
14. 2025The first "Ljeto u Sopotu" five-a-side tournament is held in Park Krug.³⁴

What to see in Sopot

• Park Krug

  The central park, with a playground residents call "Betonica".^30,31,29 According to the committee's 2022 minutes, there is a dog park by the eastern entrance.³⁰ The Institute of Art History proposed naming the park after the architect Antoaneta Pasinović, but in July 2022 the local council turned it down because residents already call the park Krug.³¹ In June 2025 it hosted the first "Ljeto u Sopotu" tournament, with 36 teams and, according to the City, more than 6,000 visitors.³⁴

• Jelinek's towers

  Slavko Jelinek's six towers have flats from the ground floor to the 16th, with shared rooms and a sun terrace on the 17th. The flats have one, two or three rooms. The façades are white, with dull red panels under the windows and on the floor parapets.⁹

• Church of the Body of Christ

  At Zemljakova 2. Ivica Čizmek drew the concept and Hrvoje Krajač the execution design. The parishioners paid for the church and its pastoral centre of about 600 m² over three floors, with help from the archdiocese.^20,21 Before the church existed, the parish met in a small flat it had bought at Ulica Viktora Kovačića 20 and rented space in OŠ Ive Andrića.^21,20

• The Sopot nursery

  A brutalist building in exposed concrete at Ulica Viktora Kovačića 18 C, assembled from modular nursery and kindergarten units on load-bearing concrete walls. Alen Žunić counts it among Aleksandar Dragomanović's five most important works. In 1978 it was nominated for the City of Zagreb Award, which it did not win, and shown at the 14th Zagreb Salon.²⁸

• The school campus on Avenija Većeslava Holjevca

  The buildings of the former Građevinski obrazovni centar were designed by Ivo Kordiš and Grozdan Knežević and built between 1960 and 1965.^24,25 The pavilions are linked by corridors.²⁵ The grounds now hold four secondary schools, a pupils' residence and the Tehničko veleučilište, a polytechnic.²⁶

• SRC Sopot

  At Ulica Milovana Kovačevića 20. The five-a-side pitches are paid; the basketball courts, children's playground, chess and table-tennis tables, children's climbing wall and boules lane are free.³³

• The "diskopothodnik"

  The renovation of the underpass between Sopot and Središće added a lift, and its asymmetric LED lines and coloured lamps earned it the nickname "diskopothodnik", roughly "disco underpass". According to Večernji list, it was vandalised less than six months after reopening in 2021.⁴⁴

Did you know?

• 1Geodetska škola at Avenija Većeslava Holjevca 15 is the only surveying school in Croatia. In 1995 one of the nine fundamental points of the national survey was set up in its courtyard, and teachers and pupils measured for 48 hours without a break.²⁴
• 2OŠ Ive Andrića was built for about 1,000 pupils, and at its peak it ran three shifts with 56 classes and 2,049 pupils. In 2024/25 it had 448.²³
• 3The school is named after Ivo Andrić, who died on 13 March 1975, a few months before it opened. Its former pupils include Sanja Doležal, Krešimir Mišak, Joško Martinović, Antonija Blaće, Silvio Marić and Ante Ćorić.²³
• 4Sopot lies in the cadastral municipality of Zaprudski Otok.^15,29
• 5Goran Bare, frontman of the band Majke, lived in Sopot. After he was found dead on 9 October 2026, fans lit candles outside his building and gathered in Sopot on 11 October.^48,49

Everyday life in Sopot

Renting in Sopot

Nearby neighbourhoods

• SredišćeNeighbourhood guide
• UtrineNeighbourhood guide
• New ZagrebNeighbourhood guide
• TravnoNeighbourhood guide
• ZapruđeNeighbourhood guide
• SigetNeighbourhood guide

• Compare districts: New Zagreb – East and New Zagreb – West
• Compare districts: New Zagreb – East and Peščenica – Žitnjak
• Compare districts: New Zagreb – East and Trnje
• All Zagreb neighbourhood guides

Questions about life in Sopot