My hometown! It is. The city where I was born, finished my elementary, middle and the high school. Those streets that I passed by thousand times, those smells that were different throughout all four distinct seasons. The one I remember the most was a smell of fall and rain. Colorful leaves and wild chestnuts... Man baking chestnuts on the street and selling them for five dinars...Those were the times. My first love … he he that was Platonic ...- of course it was! He did not even want to have a glance at me (aren’t all true loves unhappy... that’s what I used to think when I was 8). Of course he did not look at me - I was as skinny as a stick, with the crooked teeth and funny clothes that were hanging, in shoes that were way too big and therefore making me walk like a duck... Yes that was me.... But this story is not about me, it is about my hometown.
Varazdin got his name in 1181, documented by Croatian and Hungarian King Bella III. At that time city consisted of feudal fortress with a prefect living in the castle, and settlement of craftsmen and merchants, living around the castle (that is today called ‘Old City’). In 1220 Varazdin was the first Croatian city that got its status as a free and royal city and thanks to this acknowledgement and its geostrategic advantages, by the 15th century Varazdin had become a mercantile, handicraft, social, administrative and communication centre of Croatia. In 1523 Varazdin got its Town Hall (today one of the oldest Town Halls in Europe), finished in late Baroque style, that has been used for the same purpose up to the present day. In 18th century Varazdin was in his peak of social, political, economical and cultural development. At that time Varazdin was center of Croatian Parliament and has become Croatia’s capital city. The luxury and glory of baroque Varazdin come to an end on April 25, 1776 by a sudden fire destroying two thirds of the city. Despite the great efforts of the city administration and people themselves to restore what has been lost in big fire, Royal Council left Varazdin and moved to Zagreb, today’s capital of Croatia. Although, the fire almost destroyed the city, in next few decades, Varazdin was renovated and new manufacturing and handicrafts shops were started with the new textile, food and timber processing industry rapidly developing.
Today, Varazdin is centre of the theatrical and musical life of Croatia and the biggest baroque gem in the country. The city itself is a museum, with his proud and beautiful romanesque, gothic or renaissance style bell-towers, sculptures, luxurious baroque churches, antique shops and galleries and one of the most beautiful graveyards in the Europe. It is not without solid evidence that Varazdin is compared to one of the grandest European cities and today caring the name ‘Little Vienna’.
“Varazdin is my measure and my model: I am looking for a place that is still at the level of petrol lamp. A place pervaded by noble silence and natural patina. Where you can see the roots grown into the walls of houses, hear the rustling of dry grass blades, see the houses that breathe in hazy distance and low sun rays on objects on the table...” Miljenko Stancic (Painter)
Varazdin got his name in 1181, documented by Croatian and Hungarian King Bella III. At that time city consisted of feudal fortress with a prefect living in the castle, and settlement of craftsmen and merchants, living around the castle (that is today called ‘Old City’). In 1220 Varazdin was the first Croatian city that got its status as a free and royal city and thanks to this acknowledgement and its geostrategic advantages, by the 15th century Varazdin had become a mercantile, handicraft, social, administrative and communication centre of Croatia. In 1523 Varazdin got its Town Hall (today one of the oldest Town Halls in Europe), finished in late Baroque style, that has been used for the same purpose up to the present day. In 18th century Varazdin was in his peak of social, political, economical and cultural development. At that time Varazdin was center of Croatian Parliament and has become Croatia’s capital city. The luxury and glory of baroque Varazdin come to an end on April 25, 1776 by a sudden fire destroying two thirds of the city. Despite the great efforts of the city administration and people themselves to restore what has been lost in big fire, Royal Council left Varazdin and moved to Zagreb, today’s capital of Croatia. Although, the fire almost destroyed the city, in next few decades, Varazdin was renovated and new manufacturing and handicrafts shops were started with the new textile, food and timber processing industry rapidly developing.
Today, Varazdin is centre of the theatrical and musical life of Croatia and the biggest baroque gem in the country. The city itself is a museum, with his proud and beautiful romanesque, gothic or renaissance style bell-towers, sculptures, luxurious baroque churches, antique shops and galleries and one of the most beautiful graveyards in the Europe. It is not without solid evidence that Varazdin is compared to one of the grandest European cities and today caring the name ‘Little Vienna’.
“Varazdin is my measure and my model: I am looking for a place that is still at the level of petrol lamp. A place pervaded by noble silence and natural patina. Where you can see the roots grown into the walls of houses, hear the rustling of dry grass blades, see the houses that breathe in hazy distance and low sun rays on objects on the table...” Miljenko Stancic (Painter)
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One of the thousands beautiful flowery windows with the old fasade |
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| Old window on the house in the Miljenko Stancic Square |
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| Old building with the fresh flowers in the School Street |
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| Old house with the remodeled windows in the Street of Silvije Strahimir Kranjcevic |
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| Old water pump in the Miljenko Stancic Square |
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| The steeple of the Franciscan Church of St. John the Baptist |
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| St. Ursula's Church of Nativity of Jesus |
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| The view of Bakaceva Street |
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| The Croatian National Theatre in Varazdin |
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| Old Town Varazdin |
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| The Parish Church of St. Nicholas |
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| Flower pots on the windows in the Street of Ivan Padovec |
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| Gundulic Street better known as Street of Shops |
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| King Tomislav Square with the wiew of City Council |
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| Flowering pot detail of the house in Pavlinska Street |
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| The Old Meteorological Pillar at the enterence to the City Park |
