UtrineAn estate on old common pasture, with daily life around its market

Utrine at a glance

• To the main square by ZET32 min
• To the centre as the crow flies4.4 km
• Residents (2021)⁵⁸6,598
• Mostly built^8,31969–1972

Where Utrine is

Officially Utrine belongs to the city district of Novi Zagreb – istok (east), and a single local committee (mjesni odbor), Mjesni odbor Utrine, covers all of it, with its seat at Barčev trg 16.^58,59 It isn't a separate settlement but part of the settlement of Zagreb.⁵⁹ Neighbourhoods have no official boundaries, so this guide describes Utrine through that committee.

The committee's boundary follows Avenija Dubrovnik in the north, Sarajevska cesta in the east, Ukrajinska ulica in the south and Ulica Savezne Republike Njemačke in the west, enclosing 56.73 hectares.^59,58 Zapruđe lies to the north across Avenija Dubrovnik, and Travno to the south.^27,59

For and against: life in Utrine

What life is like in Utrine

Utrine is an estate of large blocks of flats, built mainly between 1969 and 1972, right after Zapruđe.^8,3,9 According to a letter by the parish priest Franjo Muren from February 1969, the first eight-storey block in Utrine was already occupied by then, while Zapruđe had about 15,000 residents.⁶

Several construction firms built the estate, Industrogradnja among them.^9,14 According to the publication Biographical Landscapes of New Zagreb, that is why the buildings vary so much: from limenke ("tin cans", long aluminium-clad blocks) to terraced town houses and two types of tower block.⁹

The Ministry of Culture and Jutarnji list credit the estate plan to the urban planner Vinko Uhlik, while the Zagreb Society of Architects' guide names his elder brother Josip Uhlik.^10,11,13 According to Jutarnji list, car traffic in Utrine was planned to run only around the edges of the estate.¹¹

According to Biographical Landscapes, Utrine differs from the symmetrical plans of Sopot and Zapruđe because everyday life happens at the market rather than at the estate's geometric centre. An underpass links the market with Zapruđe.⁹

At the 2011 census the Utrine committee area had 7,749 residents in 3,775 households and 4,582 dwellings.^60,61 The average age was then 46.6; 2,162 residents were 65 or older and 857 were under 15.⁶¹ At the 2021 census it had 6,598 residents, about 15% fewer than ten years earlier.^58,60

The writer Edo Popović moved to Utrine around 1975, and the neighbourhood became one of the main subjects of his books. In the 2010s he and his wife Ljiljana Đorđević left it for the village of Stranica Gornja.^35,36 In 2020 he said that his Utrine block has far more residents than the whole municipality of Ribnik.³⁶

Where the name Utrine comes from

Utrina is an old Croatian word for a communal meadow used for grazing, formed from u- and tratina (grassland).^2,1 The linguist Domagoj Vidović of the Institute of Croatian Language explains the estate's name by the meadows that covered the site before it was built.¹ The names of the Novi Zagreb estates were chosen by the poet Gustav Krklec, mostly from old maps and plans and the place names he found on them. Središće is the only one he made up himself.^4,3

The singular Utrina is the older form, and older residents still use it. The plural Utrine spread later and partly entered official use, so the market and the pool are called Utrina and the local committee Utrine.^1,58 The Institute recommends "u Utrini" (in Utrina); "na Utrinama" is widespread, but the Institute doesn't consider it correct.¹ Boris Postnikov, writing in Bilten, links the name to a "trodden meadow", but that is a popular explanation, not the dictionary's.^3,2

A short history of Utrine

Until the 1960s the area of today's Novi Zagreb – istok district was mostly pasture, gullies and ponds, with only the villages of Buzin, Otok, Jakuševec and Hrelić.⁵ After Most slobode opened in 1959, high-density estates went up: first Zapruđe, then Utrine, Sopot, Travno, Dugave, Središće and Sloboština.^5,8 After the flood of October 1964 the City planned 4,720 new flats across Zapruđe, Siget, Sopot, Utrina and Remetinec combined.⁷

Between 1964 and 1969 the architect Vinko Uhlik designed primary schools in Borongaj, Utrina, Siget and Velika Gorica.^12,10 OŠ Mladost had its foundations laid in 1968 and officially opened on 27 October 1970 with 477 pupils.¹⁵ A tram first crossed the Sava on 25 November 1979, on the line from Držićeva over Most mladosti to Sopot, and in 1985 the line over Jadranski most closed the tram ring through Novi Zagreb.^16,17 Tržnica Utrina was built in 1981.¹⁸

The Utrina parish was founded in 1969.⁶ That year the archdiocese bought a 56 m² two-room flatTwo-room flat (dvosoban stan)A flat with two rooms, usually a living room and one bedroom. In Croatian listings the room count isn't the number of bedrooms.Source: Pravilnik minimalnih tehničkih uvjeta za projektiranje i gradnju stanova iz POS-a (NN 106/04, 25/06, 121/11), čl. 2., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary in an Utrine block, later numbered Maretićeva ulica 6, which served as church, parish office and the priest's home. The first Mass there was said in August 1970.^6,22 Matija Stepinac was appointed the parish's first administrator on 3 April 1970.^6,24 For more than two decades the communist authorities granted no permit for a church, so the parish worked from the flat until the 1990s.^6,22

A 1991 design competition for the church drew 39 entries, won by the architects Andrej Uchytil and Renata Waldgoni.^6,25,13 The permit came in September 1993, and the foundation stone was laid on 7 October 1995.^6,22 The first Mass in the unfinished church was said at Corpus Christi 1998, and that year's Christmas midnight Mass was celebrated under the open sky because the church still had no roof.^6,23 The Blessed Sacrament was moved from the flat-church into the new church on 6 October 2002.²²

In January 1992 I. and IV. gimnazija moved into a new building at Avenija Dubrovnik 36, which the City built because the schools had lost their old building on Rooseveltov trg.¹⁹ Since 2001 the State Archives in Zagreb has had a store in its basement and part of its ground floor.²⁰

1. 1959Most slobode opens, and new estates go up south of the Sava, first Zapruđe, then Utrine.^5,8
2. 1964After the October flood the City plans 4,720 flats across Zapruđe, Siget, Sopot, Utrina and Remetinec.⁷
3. 1969The Utrina parish is founded, and the archdiocese buys a 56 m² flat to serve as its church.^6,22
4. 1969–1972Utrine is built.^8,3
5. 1970OŠ Mladost officially opens on 27 October.¹⁵
6. 1979A tram crosses the Sava for the first time, over Most mladosti to Sopot.^16,17
7. 1981Tržnica Utrina is built.¹⁸
8. 1992I. and IV. gimnazija move into the new building at Avenija Dubrovnik 36.¹⁹
9. 1995The foundation stone of the Church of St John the Apostle and Evangelist is laid.^6,22
10. 2002The Blessed Sacrament is moved from the flat-church into the new church.²²
11. 2004The Utrina pool complex opens after three years of building.^28,29
12. 2012A fenced dog park opens.³¹
13. 2024The ice rink on Kombolova ulica opens.^46,48
14. 2026The rebuilt Sarajevska cesta, the neighbourhood's eastern boundary, reopens to cars on 2 October.^54,55,56,59

What to see in Utrine

• Tržnica Utrina

  The market at Barčev trg 16, with a covered hall, a seasonal outdoor selling area and a fish market.³³ It was built in 1981.¹⁸ The renovation, in its final design stage in November 2025, provided for a new roof and floor, new kiosks and a 130 kW solar plant on the roof.³⁴

• Church of St John the Apostle and Evangelist

  At Hrastin prilaz 1, with its parish centre.^26,22 It was designed by Andrej Uchytil and Renata Waldgoni and is known for its curved forms and blue ceramic tiles.^25,13,27

• Utrina pool complex

  Opened on 27 July 2004 after three years of building, at a cost of 71.3 million kuna including infrastructure.^28,29 It has a 50 × 25 m Olympic pool, a 10 × 25 m learner pool and a 10 × 23 m diving pool, plus a small sports hall, a sauna, a gym, a café and stands for 500.^30,29 It was built with a garage and, according to Index.hr, a nuclear shelter.^28,29

• The I. gimnazija building

  At Avenija Dubrovnik 36. The grammar school has been here since January 1992, and since 2001 the State Archives in Zagreb has kept a 3,400 m² store in the basement and part of the ground floor, 3,000 m² of it for records.^19,20

• Admiral Ice Dome

  An ice rink at Kombolova ulica 6, under a 44 × 60 m air dome, 5,500 m² in all, for 500 to 850 spectators. It was designed by the studio 10Aarch. According to 24sata it cost about €2 million: the sponsor Admiral gave the most, and the rest came from companies, donors and the club KHL Medveščak Admiral, for which the rink is mainly intended.^46,49 It opened in March 2024 and from 10 March hosted the Women's Ice Hockey World Championship, Division III.^46,48

• Park Utrina

  According to Net.hr, Park Utrina and Park Vjekoslava Majera make up the completed eastern arm of the Plava potkova (Blue Horseshoe), a chain of parks in Novi Zagreb.³²

Did you know?

• 1The I. gimnazija building holds about 19,000 shelf metres of records of the State Archives in Zagreb.²⁰ After the March 2020 earthquake damaged the archive building on Opatička ulica, records were moved to Utrine, and on 27 July 2020 heavy rain flooded part of the store.²¹
• 2In its 2025 draft budget the City justified urgent work on the market roof partly by the roof drainage channels decaying because of birds.¹⁸
• 3Dubravko Ivaniš of Pips, Chips & Videoclips styled himself "king of Zapruđe and Utrina", a title that also made it into a Pips song. He later said he had dethroned himself.^35,11,3
• 4In 2007 Edo Popović said people in Utrine joke that they were disappointed when the building going up opposite INA turned out to be the Museum of Contemporary Art, not an IKEA.³⁵
• 5The singer Jimmy Stanić and his wife Barbara lived in a small flat in Utrine. According to Barbara, he went to the market every day to shop and cook.³⁷

Everyday life in Utrine

Renting in Utrine

Nearby neighbourhoods

• TravnoNeighbourhood guide
• ZapruđeNeighbourhood guide
• SopotNeighbourhood guide
• SredišćeNeighbourhood guide
• DugaveNeighbourhood guide
• SloboštinaNeighbourhood 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 Utrine