Europe 2019 - Day 45 (Part 2)

20 June 2019, Thursday 

Today is a national public holiday in Croatia, Corpus Christi Day. So many of the shops, restaurants and supermarkets were closed. 22 June is also a public holiday - Anti-Fascist Struggle Day, followed by 25 June which is Statehood Day. Kind of reminds me of Malaysia and its numerous holidays 😁.

Right in front of the Church is a statue of a golden Holy Virgin Mary. Most of the land around this area is church owned, and it is then rented out for residential or commercial purposes. 90% of Croatians are Catholic. 

Then we wanted to try the funicular to go to Upper Town, although it is only a short walk uphill. Before we reached the funicular, we saw an Orthodox Church and a statue of Petar Preradovic (Croatian poet, writer, and military general of Serb origin) from 1895. 

Then the funicular ride. The funicular here was built in 1888 and is one of the oldest, shortest and steepest in the world. It is 66 metres long and 55 seconds, and goes every 10 minutes. And it takes 10 minutes to walk uphill to Upper Town. But still, we had to try it at least once! We exited the funicular into Strossmayer Promenade, Zagreb’s first public walkway. Here we got a panoramic view of the city.

Then we were in Upper Town or Gradec as it used to be known as. The most remarkable thing here is St Mark’s Square with St Mark’s Church. St Mark’s Church was originally built in the 13th century but was reconstructed over the years, including after being destroyed in the earthquake of 1880. Its current form is from the 19th century, after Zagreb was formed with the unification of the 2 towns, Gradec and Kaptol. 

It is most notable now for its colourful roof which has 2 coat of arms - the one on the left represents the 3 regions in Croatia today - red and white square (Croatia), 3 lion heads (Dalmatia) and a black marten (something like a weasel or mink) (Slavonia). The marten’s fur was very valuable for trade purposes. In fact, the local currency kunameans marten in English. The coat of arms on the right with a castle represents the City of Zagreb. 

Here we saw a group of Malay makcikswith tudungwho I suspect are from Malaysia because of the slang. I excitedly told my friend and she reminded me that we are makciksourselves. Right. Moving along, VERY QUICKLY from this painful topic.