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Historical walks / Medieval Zagreb · Gradec & Kaptol

Between Two Hills

Two neighbouring hills, two centres of power. Walk from the civic life of Gradec to the ecclesiastical heart of Kaptol, and see how their separate histories still shape the city.

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1h 30mBan Jelačić Square, by the equestrian statueAsk about accessibility
Kamenita vrata in a present-day-style view
Kamenita vrata in an 1880s-style view
Kamenita vrata, Gradec

The walk

A closer look

01

Gradec

Following the Mongol invasion of the Zagreb area, King Béla IV granted Gradec the Golden Bull in 1242. The free royal borough fortified itself; Kamenita vrata (Stone Gate) is one of its surviving entrances.

Walled Gradec on its hill with Kaptol and the cathedral beyond, fields and orchards in the foreground
Walled Gradec, with Kaptol and its cathedral beyond
02

Between the hills

The Medveščak stream once ran in the ravine between Gradec and Kaptol. Its former course helps explain the divide between the two settlements.

Gradec at left and Kaptol at right, separated by the Medveščak valley
Gradec and Kaptol across the Medveščak valley
03

Kaptol

The bishopric was established on Kaptol in the late eleventh century. The cathedral's Gothic core dates from the thirteenth century; its present appearance reflects later rebuilding.

Engraving of the Zagreb cathedral on Kaptol, before the neo-Gothic rebuilding
The cathedral on Kaptol, before its neo-Gothic rebuilding

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Agram Zagreb 1941–1991 Layers of Zagreb