How many times have you visited the Croatian capital and not thought of which secrets were hidden in it?Did you, for example know, that the Archaeological Museum of the City of Zagreb on Zrinjevac preserves the Egyptian mummy of Nesi-hensu, the wife of Paher-hensu“the divine tailor”?
The mummy was wrapped with strips made of linen with a text written in the Etruscan languageon it, a very valuable linen book in Zagreb which is actually the oldest preserved text in that language.
You may not know that at the beginning of the past century the remains of a mammoth were found in Zagreb, in the very centre, in Frankopanska Street during the building of Helios Cinema. Today the Gavella Theatre is located on the former site and its chamber scene is called the Mammoth Scene in remembrance of that prehistorical inhabitant.
Dizmuš the good robber and two“street lamp lighters“
It is an interesting fact that in Nova Vesa, Zagreb, there is a restored chapel dedicated to St. Dizmuš, the good robber, crucified on Calvary nextto Jesus. On the site of the chapel – and not without reason, the old inhabitants of Zagreb will say- was the epicentre of the destructive earthquake that took place in 1880.
Our capital city hides many details. Therefore, if in the evening hours you take a walk in Zagreb Upper Town and Kaptol you may notice that the street lights work on gas. At dusk, in the summer, at around 7 p.m., and much earlier in the winter, each one of the 217 old gas lamps is lighted which requires around two hours.
Zagreb has always been a hospitable city with an open heart which is proved by the open doors on its coat of arms, a symbol of welcome, protection and refuge for travellers. As one of the stations of the famous Orient Express train – which went from Paris to Istanbul, in 1925 Zagreb Hotel Esplanade was built in Zagreb, one of the most beautiful buildings near the Main Train Station.
Secrets of Grič
If you wish to discover all the secrets of Zagreb our next recommendation is the one-hour night tour Secrets of Grič, on Fridays in Croatian and on Saturdays in English, where you will interactively experience events from the past, characters from the novels of MarijaJurićZagorka and well-known city legends. The gathering point isthe monument dedicated to Andrija KačićMiošić at the corner of Ilica andMesnička streets, while the visit starts from the Kapucin stairs where the group is awaited by MarijaJurićZagorka. During the visit, visitors meet Manduša, Neraand SinišafromZagorka’s novel, as well asPetricaKerempuh and his group of actors who will perform and tell the story of the peasant’s revolt lead by MatijaGubec. Then there are the knights, street lamp lighter, night watchman, a couple of real witches, prostitutes and a series of characters intertwined in the mysterious story of the Upper Town.
