Zagreb stands at 45.8150 degrees north latitude and 15.9819 degrees east longitude, positioned where the southern slopes of Medvednica Mountain meet the Sava River floodplain at an elevation averaging 122 meters above sea level. The city occupies 641.43 square kilometers and recorded 767,131 residents in the 2021 census, making it the largest urban center in Croatia and home to nearly one-quarter of the country's total population. The metropolitan area extends across Zagreb County and portions of neighboring Krapina-Zagorje County, bringing the functional urban zone to approximately 1.1 million people. Zagreb serves as the seat of the Croatian government, houses the Sabor parliament, and concentrates the majority of national corporate headquarters, media institutions, and university faculties within its boundaries.
The city's origins trace to two medieval settlements on opposing hills. Kaptol, the ecclesiastical center established around 1094 when King Ladislaus I founded the Zagreb Diocese, occupied the eastern hill. Gradec, granted a royal charter as a free royal borough by King Bela IV in 1242, developed on the western hill. These twin settlements remained separate entities through the Middle Ages, often in rivalry, until administrative merger in 1850 created the unified city of Zagreb. The Upper Town, encompassing the historic Gradec and Kaptol areas, preserves the medieval street plan with narrow lanes and stone buildings dating primarily from the 13th through 18th centuries. The Lower Town developed during the Austro-Hungarian period following a grid pattern established in the 1860s, creating the so-called Green Horseshoe of interconnected parks and squares designed by Milan Lenuci.
Zagreb Cathedral, formally the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, stands as the tallest structure in Croatia at 108 meters to the tip of its northern spire. Construction began in 1093 on the Kaptol hill, though the current Gothic structure dates primarily to rebuilds following the 1242 Mongol invasion and the 1880 Zagreb earthquake that measured 6.3 on the Richter scale. The earthquake destroyed the cathedral's medieval nave and required extensive reconstruction under architect Hermann Bollé, who designed the twin neo-Gothic spires completed in 1906. The cathedral treasury houses the remains of Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac, beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1998, and displays liturgical objects spanning eight centuries including an 11th-century chasuble and Renaissance-era monstrances.
St. Mark's Church in the Upper Town dates to the 13th century, though its distinctive tiled roof depicting the coats of arms of Croatia, Dalmatia, Slavonia, and Zagreb was added during an 1880 reconstruction. The roof contains 244 square meters of glazed tiles manufactured by the Huppmann factory in Styria, arranged to show the medieval Croatian checkerboard on the left side and the Zagreb city emblem on the right. The church portal, carved by the workshop of Parler architects around 1370, displays fifteen figures in niches and ranks among the finest examples of Gothic sculpture in southeastern Europe. The interior contains frescoes by Jozo Kljaković completed between 1938 and 1941.
The Croatian National Theatre building occupies a full city block in the Lower Town, designed by Viennese architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer and inaugurated by Emperor Franz Joseph I on October 14, 1895. The yellow and cream neo-baroque facade features sculptural work by August Böhm and Viennese workshops. Ivan Meštrović created the sculptural group "The Well of Life" positioned in front of the main entrance in 1905. The theatre operates three ensembles—drama, opera, and ballet—performing in the 825-seat auditorium. Fire damaged the building on October 27, 1969, destroying the original painted ceiling, which was replaced during reconstruction completed in 1975.
Maksimir Park, established in 1794 by Bishop Maksimilijan Vrhovac, extends across 316 hectares in the eastern portion of the city and constitutes the oldest public park in southeastern Europe. English landscape architect Joseph Clement Hofmann redesigned portions of the park between 1853 and 1857, adding the network of paths, five artificial lakes, and the Echo Pavilion. The park contains approximately 4,000 trees representing 94 species, with specimens including English oak exceeding 200 years of age. Zagreb Zoo, founded in 1925 and occupying the southern section of the park, maintains 275 animal species across 5.5 hectares. Maksimir also encompasses the Stadion Maksimir, home stadium of Dinamo Zagreb football club, with a capacity of 35,123 spectators.
The Museum of Broken Relationships originated as a traveling exhibition in 2006 before opening permanent premises at Ćirilometodska 2 in the Upper Town in 2010. Curators Olinka Vištinca and Dražen Grubišić assembled donated objects representing ended relationships, each accompanied by a description of its personal significance. The collection contains approximately 1,000 items from 116 countries, with exhibits ranging from a garden gnome donated by a German contributor to an axe used by a contributor from Berlin to destroy an ex-partner's furniture. The museum won the Kenneth Hudson Award for Europe's most innovative museum in 2011 from the European Museum Forum. The permanent collection occupies two floors of an 18th-century baroque building, with rotating selections displayed at any given time.
Zagreb's funicular railway connects the Lower Town's Tomićeva Street with the Upper Town's Lotrščak Tower, climbing 66 meters over a track length of 66 meters at a gradient of 52 degrees. Service commenced on April 23, 1890, making it one of the world's shortest public funiculars and the oldest means of public transport in Zagreb still operating in its original form. The funicular initially used a steam engine before electrification in 1934. Two cars, named Vježba and Studenta, operate in counterbalanced pairs, with each car carrying up to 28 passengers. The journey takes approximately 64 seconds. Historical records indicate the system transported 723,000 passengers in 2019.
Lotrščak Tower, standing adjacent to the funicular's upper station, was constructed in the mid-13th century as part of Gradec's fortification system. The square tower rises 30 meters and originally served to monitor the four city gates, which were locked each evening. Since January 1, 1877, a cannon has fired from the tower daily at precisely 12:00 noon, a tradition initiated to help the city's church sacristans synchronize bell ringing. The Grič cannon, mounted on the tower's southern face, uses blank charges provided by the Croatian Army. Visitors can climb the interior stairs to the observation platform for views across the Lower Town grid and the Sava River valley.
Ban Jelačić Square forms the central plaza of Zagreb's Lower Town, measuring approximately 11,500 square meters. The square bears the name of Josip Jelačić, Ban of Croatia from 1848 to 1859, whose equestrian statue by Austrian sculptor Anton Dominik Fernkorn was installed in 1866. Yugoslav authorities removed the statue in 1947 due to Jelačić's perceived nationalist symbolism and stored it in the basement of the Glyptotheque for 43 years. The statue returned to the square on October 16, 1990, though turned to face south toward the Sava River rather than its original northern orientation toward Hungary. The square functions as the hub for Zagreb's public tram network, with 13 of the city's 15 daytime tram lines passing through or terminating at the plaza.
Zagreb's public transport network operates 116 tram vehicles on 15 daytime routes covering 60.9 kilometers of track, plus four night routes. The system transported 185.7 million passengers in 2019. The network uses standard gauge track at 1,435 millimeters and receives power from 600-volt DC overhead lines. The oldest portion of the network, the first electric tramway in southeastern Europe, commenced operation on September 5, 1891, between Savska Street and the Main Railway Station. The fleet includes low-floor Končar TMK 2200 trams manufactured in Croatia since 2003 and refurbished TMK 201 vehicles from the 1970s. Individual tickets for Zone 1, covering the city center and most tourist destinations, cost 4 kuna for 30 minutes when purchased at kiosks or 10 kuna from drivers as of 2023 pricing.