Famous Monuments of Croatia 2024
Famous Monuments of Croatia 2024
“History lives on through us”
Croatia is a beautiful country filled with crystal clear beaches and amazing history filled architecture. So why not tell you more about most of the monuments and statues that Croatia has. 🙂
Monuments these days are a common thing, being used to decorate parks and cities on a regular basis. Some being purely artistic representations while others are just there to commemorate great achievements. Like the statue of a Croatian bishop called “Grgur Ninski”.
Gregory of Nin
Grgur was a medieval Croatian bishop of Nin who strongly opposed the Pope and official circles of the Church. Introducing the national language in the religious services. Until that time, services were held only in Latin (being under the jurisdiction of Roman influence before the Great Schism), not being understandable to a majority of the population. Not only was this important for Croatian language and culture, but it also made Christianity stronger within the Croatian Kingdom.
The statue is widely considered a beauty in Split where it resides, developing a legend if you touch his big toe and make a wish your wish is gonna come true….just be patient as it can take a while to happen. 🙂
Bell tower of Saint Domnius (“Sveti Duje”)
Saint Duje, located in the very center of the widely famous Diocletian’s Palace in Split. This monument is regarded to be one of the oldest if not the oldest Catholic cathedral still in use. The bell tower being named after Saint Domnius, a Croatian patron saint who was a 3-rd century Bishop of Salona. One of the more interesting things would have to be that you can climb up to the top of the Bell tower (for a small fee that is) from where you will have a stunning view of the entire Diocletian’s Palace.
Pula Arena
The Pula Arena is the name of the amphitheatre located in well Pula of course 🙂
The Arena is the only remaining Roman amphitheatre to have four side towers and all three Roman architectural orders entirely preserved; also being among the six largest surviving Roman arenas in the World. Bloodshed with spectacular gladiator fighting being one of the most famous purposes of the amphitheatre.
Truly an experience to see up close, makes you feel like you traveled back in time to see Gladiators battle 🙂
Ban Jelačić square
Being the central square of Zagreb, named after ban Josip Jelačić. Located below Zagreb’s old city cores Gradec and Kaptol.
The square holds a large statue of Josip Jelačić with his sword out riding a horse that adds a certain charm to the square in general 🙂
The Diocletian’s Palace
One of the most famous monuments in Croatia. Located in Split and also being the so called “Heart” of this lovely town, mixing modern with old. Over the years the Palace was slowly adapted by the citizens of Split to fit their needs by sprouting shops and apartments all around while still retaining the old architecture.
Trakošćan Castle
This historic beauty looks like something from a fairy tale. The castle being located in the northern region of Croatia, being built in the 13th century. It was meant as an observation fortress to monitor the valley between from Ptuj to Bednja. The castle itself reveals different phases of building. For several centuries, it used to be a fortification, so that the reconstructions undertaken during that period were functional rather than aesthetic.
Dubrovnik’s City Walls
When you think of Croatia you probably think about the pristine white stone walls surrounding the town of Dubrovnik. The present shape of the walls was defined in the 14th century after the city gained its full independence from Venetian suzerainty, but the peak of its construction lasted from the beginning of the 15th century until the latter half of the 16th century.
The walls were also a filming location for the famous TV show called “Game of Thrones”, more specifically being the fictional city of “King’s Landing”.
St. Mark's Church
The parish church of old Zagreb.
The Romanesque window found in its south facade is the best evidence that the church must have been built as early as the 13th century as is also the semicircular ground-plan of St. Mary’s chapel (later altered). The church is famous for it’s mozaic checkered board patterned slanted roof with two crests symbolizing “Coat of arms of Zagreb” and “Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia“.
Onofrio's fountains
In the very beginning when “Dubrovnik” used mainly rain water to survive they decided that they needed a more efficient method of acquiring clean water. The city of “Dubrovnik” acquired the help of two builders to build an aqueduct from a neighbouring place called “Šumet“. When the aqueduct construction was finished, one of the builders, Onforio della Cava, started and finished building two fountains, a bigger one that served as the end of the aqueduct and a smaller one in the year 1438. The interesting thing about the bigger fountain is that it has 16 sides, each decorated by a stone mask.
Eltz Manor
Eltz Manor is a baroque castle in the city of Vukovar.The castle was built in the 18th century by the descendants of Phillip Karl von Eltz-Kempenich, the Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire. The Manor was devastated during the first year of Croatia’s War for Independence, but they managed to re-construct it in the year 2011. Today the Manor is home to the Vukovar City Museum, holding many memorabilia reminding us of the history of Vukovar.
Smaller known monuments
Croatia is also filled with smaller not so famous monuments that have a deep meaning in them like the “Stone Flower” for the victims that got killed by “Ustaša”. “The Monument to the Revolution of the people of Moslavina” is an interesting statue that looks like a spacecraft, but It’s meaning is that of good faith and respect for the lives lost during the “Second World War“
Short summary of Famous Monuments of Croatia
Whether you are interested in Croatia just because of the beautiful beaches and because of Game of Thrones you can still admire and enjoy all the monuments this beautiful small country has. From the small statues to giant palace like monuments, there is history in everything. So go out and explore the wonders of this country and see what you can discover 🙂
Hopefully you’ll feel better knowing the meaning of some of these when you get to see them in person. The historic monuments/architecture always being more beautiful in person than images ever could tell. 🙂
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