Sljeme - Zagreb Travel Guide - VirtualTourist.com

Medvednica is located north of Zagreb and the nuclei of Gradec and Kaptol lie on its most southern spurs. The main range is 24 kilometres long and its highest peak is Sljeme 1035 m). It is the most visited mountain in Croatia due to its proximity to Zagreb and good roads connecting it. Medvednica is not populated, although villages line its slopes - the suburb settlements of Borcec, Sestine, Gracani, Remete, Markusevac, Cucerje, Vugrovec and others.
Borcec is famous for being the alleged birthplace of the legendary vagabond and jester Petrica Kerempuh, who can be compared to Till Eulenspiegel in German literature.

The citizens of Gracani were Gradec's serfs, hence their name, and they often fought against the lords of Medvedgrad. The name Sestine has its origins in 'sestina', the Croatian word for one-sixth, one-sixth of their harvest which peasants had to give to the feudal lords of Medvedgrad. The village was famous for its picturesque, ornate and very tasteful folk dress. Today, its is famous for its cemetery, where the Croatian politician Ante Starcevic lays buried. In 1591 Remete felt the anger of Bosnian Hasan Pasha Predojevic who had six Paulist monks executed. The Paulist monastery was built here at the end of the 13th century, later razed and plundered. Today, only two Baroque wings of the monastery building remain. The building is Gothic with Baroque elements, frescoes and has a marble Baroque altar with a wooden Gothic retable of the Virgin Mary dating from the 15th century. Markusevac also has a Gothic church with baroque elements and a Baroque chapel dedicated to St. Mary of Wine with a wooden Gothic Madonna. Cucerje and Vugrovec both have parish churches dating from the Baroque. In the villages on the slopes of the Medvednica one can find cosy inns and lodges.

Medvednica offers mountain cabins, inns, huts, health resorts and the odd church. The Tomislav Lodge is a popular resort and the church of the Holy Virgin of Sljeme is well-known among the citizens of Zagreb.

Another interesting sight are the remains of the old salt mines at the stream Slano in the eastern part of the Medvednica, which were used from 1347 to the beginning of the 20th century, and Rudarski vrt (Miner's Garden) where the miners of the Zrinski family dug for silver in the 17th century. The greatest jewel of the Medvednica are its forests, in the lower belt there is horse chestnut, oak and hornbeam, in the middle beech and in the top fir, ash, maple and elm. The Medvednica has eight woodland reservations. Its valleys and steep meadows become ski routes in winter. There are also karst terraces, sink holes, grottoes - the most famous one is the Veternica (4,516 m). There are also interesting geomorphologic phenomenon such the Dolomite rocks called Kameni svetovi, which are shrouded in legends sung by Croatian author August Senoa. The Medvednica also has cascades, such as the Sopot cascade, which is concealed by a thick forest. It also has hot springs, for instance, the Sustinsko vrelo, which is surrounded by tropical fern and other rare vegetation, such as the alpine primrose. From the TV tower on Sljeme one can see the Slovenian mountains and the Croatian Zagorje.

Sljeme, Zagreb

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Sljeme, Zagreb

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