The history of Zagreb, the capital and largest city of Croatia, dates back to the Middle Ages. The Romans had built a settlement, Andautonia, in present-day Ščitarjevo. The name "Zagreb" was first used in 1094 at the founding of the Zagreb diocese in Kaptol, after the Slavs had arrived in the area. Zagreb became a free royal city in 1242. It was made the capital of Croatia in 1845 and elected its first mayor, Janko Kamauf, in 1851. According to the 2011 Croatian census, Zagreb had 792,875 inhabitants and was also Croatia's largest city by area.
Prehistory
Earliest evidence of humans in Zagreb and the surrounding region belongs to the Mousterian culture of Middle Palaeolithic. The Krapina Neanderthal site, the largest known sample of Neanderthal remains dating back to 125,000 years ago, is located north of the city. The Veternica cave in the suburbs of Zagreb was explored in the early 20th century. Remains of Mousterian Neanderthals dated to 50,000–100,000 years ago were found there, as well as Roman-era and mediaeval human remains, and over 120 cave bear skulls, some of which appear to have been collected for ritual purposes. Extant Palaeolithic finds are largely located on the Medvednica mountain.
The first permanent settlements in what is today Zagreb were likely created by the Urnfield culture. People of the Urnfield culture were living in Zagreb by 1300 BCE and were affected by the migrations of the Bronze Age collapse. In 12th or 11th century BCE they built a likely fortified settlement at the location of modern-day Priest's Tower () and Demeter Street.
Old Zagreb The term "Old Zagreb" was popularized by Gjuro Szabo, an admirer of Zagreb antiquities who advocated their conservation. Old Zagreb consisted of two settlements on neighboring hills - Gradec (also known as Gornji Grad) and Kaptol - and the houses in the valley between them along the former Medveščak creek (present-day Tkalčićeva Street). It includes settlements at the beginning of Vlaška Street III, beneath the diocesan (later archdiocesan) seat.
Kaptol
The foundation of Kaptol (on the eastern slope) is traditionally dated in 1094, when Ladislaus I of Hungary founded the Zagreb diocese during the War of Croatian Succession. The Kaptol settlement was an asymmetric rectangle, with Bakačeva Street on the south and the present-day Kaptol School on the north. Kaptol derives its name from capitulum, the Latin word for the group of Canons Regular who ruled the settlement. Kaptol Street ran north–south across the Kaptol terrace, with the canons' residences in rows along it.
The bishop's residence and the cathedral were in the southeastern portion of the Kaptol hill. Vlaška Ves, near the cathedral, was first mentioned in 1198. In 1334, the canons of Zagreb established a colony of serfs near their residences north of Kaptol. This was the beginning of a settlement along the present-day Nova Ves street. The cathedral was consecrated in 1217, and restored and rebuilt in 1263 after it was damaged in Mongol invasion of 1242. That century, two Gothic churches were also built in Kaptol: St. Francis, with its Franciscan monastery, and St. Maria's.
Kaptol originally had no major fortifications; it was enclosed with a palisade, which was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. Its defensive walls and towers were built between 1469 and 1473. Prislin Tower, near the Kaptol School, is one of the best-preserved fortifications of the era.
During Hundred Years' Croatian-Ottoman War, in preparation for a possible Turkish attack, the bishop of Zagreb had fortifications built around the cathedral and his residence. The defensive towers and walls built between 1512 and 1520 still stand today, except those facing the front of the cathedral in Kaptol Square (which were demolished in 1907). In the neighborhood of Opatovina small houses still stand, but in the neighborhood of Dolac a number of small, narrow streets were demolished in 1926 when construction began on the Dolac Market.
Gradec
The other part of Old Zagreb is Gradec, on hill Grič. It was given a royal charter by Béla IV of Hungary in 1242. The Golden Bull of 1242 proclaimed a free royal city on Gradec, the hill of Zagreb, and made Gradec a feudal holding responsible directly to the king. Its citizens received a number of rights, including the election of their city judge and self-government. They built defensive walls and towers around their settlement, in anticipation of a new Tatar invasion, between 1242 and 1261. These walls are still visible in Gornji Grad.
The defensive walls enclosed the settlement in the shape of a triangle, with its apex near the Popov Toranj tower and its base at the south end (the Strossmayer Promenade). Rectangular and semicircular towers fortified the walls. Four main gates led into the city: the Mesnička Gate in the west, the Opatička Gate in the north, Dverce in the south and the Stone Gate in the east. The Stone Gate is the only one still extant. The keys to three gates (Stone Gate, smaller Poljska Gate (by the Lotrščak tower) and Mesnička Gate) were handed over to the mayor and city judge when they took office have been preserved. In 2012, Mayor Milan Bandić appointed the Zagreb majorettes as keepers of the city keys and handed them replicas of the keys while the originals are stored in the Zagreb City Museum.
The focal point of Gornji Grad is St. Mark's Square, with St. Mark's (Old Zagreb's parish church) in the middle. When guilds developed from the 15th to the 17th centuries as societies of craftsmen, their members (masters, journeymen and apprentices) gathered regularly at St. Mark's. On the church's northwest exterior wall is the oldest coat of arms of Zagreb with the year 1499 engraved on it; the original is in the Zagreb City Museum.
At the corner of St. Mark's Square and present-day Ćirilometodska Street is Old City Hall. The building, which has been altered and reconstructed several times, still hosts meetings of the Zagreb City Council. On the opposite side of the square, at the corner of Basaričekova Street, is St. Mark's parish office. The 16th-century house underwent reconstruction during the 18th century and the addition of an extension in the 19th century. At the west end of St. Mark's Square is the early-19th-century, Baroque-style Banski dvori, the former residence of the ban (viceroy) of Croatia, still used by the government of Croatia. Since 1734, the Croatian Parliament has met on the east side of St. Mark's Square.
Little is known about the medieval appearance of Vlaška Street. The name of the settlement was , or in Latin. In the old part of present-day Vlaška Street, below the archbishop's residence and gardens, is a row of houses built from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th centuries along the old road.
Medieval documents mention watermills and public baths along Medveščak Stream, in the valley between Gradec and Kaptol. Road construction in the area began during the 18th century and the first half of the 19th. The east bank of the stream was part of Kaptol, and its west bank part of Gradec.
Kaptol and Gradec rivalry
The development of Kaptol began in 1094 after the foundation of the diocese, while the growth of Gradec began after the Golden Bull was issued in 1242.
In the history of the city of Zagreb, there have been numerous conflicts between Gradec and Kaptol. The imperfect medieval legal system led to strifes, legal disputes and violent conflicts between two neighbouring hills, as Kaptol meddled into economic life of Gradec. For one, Kaptol aimed to collect rents (mitnica and placovina) on entire territory of Zagreb, including Gradec, as kings granted them these rights. On the other hand, from perspective of Gradec, this violated the royal privileges granted to them by 1242 Golden Bull. Such situation led to centuries of skirmishes and bitter rivalry. During the periods of turmoils in the country, the two hills also tended to align with the opposing sides.Buntak, 125
The first known conflict between Kaptol and Gradec broke out in the middle of the 14th century and continued in 1375. According to Nada Klaić, Kaptolites first set fire to a row of houses in Gradec suburb and then attacked Gradec women carrying merchandise to a local fair. On the same day, Kaptol servants attacked Nova Ves na Savi, where they allegedly raped women and killed some rich serf in his own house. They also captured one Gradec citizen and held him shackled until he bribed his way out. When Gradec citizens complained to official Kaptol about this behaviour, they received the response that: "they should be happy their town wasn't burn't down completely" and that they can expect it in the future too. Soon, Kaptol people attempted to burn Gradec again. When a merchant named Ivan spotted the fire and attempted to warn the others Kaptolites killed him and stole his merchandise. According to Nada Klaić, the reason for all this was an ongoing legal dispute. Gradec municipality complained to: county prefect, ban and even king himself, but to no avail. The conflict continued during the Anti-court struggles civil war, as Gradec aligned with two queens faction while Kaptol aligned with anti-court faction.Buntak, 124-125 The conflict reach its peak at the end of the 14th century when Gradec citizens were allowed to kill anyone who would attack them without legal consequences and couldn't leave the town walls without risking being attacked. The Kaptol bishop used his possession of Popov toranj to fire from bombards on Gradec, at Christmas Eve 1391. The two sides concluded short lasting peace in 1392.Buntak, 125The new conflict broke out in 1396 and two sides clashed again. After a period of bloody and bitter fighting there were several massacres of the citizens, destruction of houses and looting. The bishop excommunicated Gradec in pompous ceremony in January 1397. On New Year's Eve, residents of Kaptol even dug out the graves of citizens of Gradec who were buried after excommunication and desecrated their remains. Gradec citizens ignored bishop's curse and again complained to the king Sigismund, who eventually forced bishop to lift his excommunication in St. Mark's Church. The king also absolved Gradec citizens from any kind of crime against Kaptol.Buntak, 126-127 New conflicts, nonetheless continued in the 15th century, in 1421, because of the border line on Medveščak. These conflicts calmed down in 1469.
The great conflict between Kaptol and Gradec is mentioned in 1667 due to the construction of a bridge over the Medveščak stream.
In 1850, Gradec and Kaptol, with surrounding settlements, were united into a single settlement, today's city of Zagreb.
16th century During the 16th century, Zagreb suffered permanent threat of Ottoman attacks. On top of the instabilities brought by the Ottoman conquests, the old rivalries between Gradec and Kaptol continued. CItizens of Gradec contributed to Hungarian troops in 1526 Battle of Mohacs by sending 40 well armed infantrymen and six horses used for towing cannons.Buntak, 210 The defeat at Mohacs and subsequent civil war again brought Gradec and Kaptol to the opposite sides in the conflict. While citizens of Gradec supported Ferdinand Habsburg, Kaptol, led by Zagreb bishop Šimun Erdody fiercely supported John Zapolya. These kind of circumstances led to new round of conflicts between Gradec and Kaptol.Buntak, 200-202
Except for threat posed by the Ottomans, citizens of Gradec also suffered from violence conducted by Spanish, German and even Croatian ban Ivan Karlović's armies who harassed citizens, looted them, broke into their homes or harassed city guards. This kind of behaviour led to numerous complaints and requests sent to the king to relocate these armies elsewhere.Buntak 206 - 207
On assembly session held on 7 March 1577, Zagreb was for the first time called the capital city of Croatia-Slavonia. Buntak 278 - 279
17th century