St. Mark's Square

Trg svetog Marka stands in Zagreb’s Upper Town, the historic heart of the city. The square is framed by medieval streets and overlooks the valley below. At its centre rises St Mark’s Church, its tiled roof a patchwork of coats of arms. Around it cluster the seat of government, the Parliament building and the Constitutional Court. The Old City Hall nearby once hosted Zagreb’s council. Four museums line the square: the Croatian History Museum, the Museum of Naïve Art, the Zagreb City Museum and the Museum of Broken Relationships. The square carries centuries of national memory. In 1573 the peasant leader Matija Gubec was tortured here before execution. In 1928 it briefly bore the name of Stjepan Radić after his assassination. Since 1737 the Croatian Parliament has met in the same buildings. Decisions to leave Austria-Hungary in 1918 and Yugoslavia in 1991 were taken inside. A granite renovation in 2006 renewed the paving after earlier protests were banned. Visitors once walked among government buildings and museums. The square’s arcades and façades show early 20th-century design. The roof of St Mark’s Church displays the coats of arms of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia. From the square paths lead to other Upper Town landmarks. The square itself has been closed to the public since October 2020.