MEDVEDGRAD NATURE PARK

The Medvednica mountain range is home to a 228 ^km2 nature park at the foot of Mount Sljeme and the medieval fortress of Medvedgrad. From the mountain's highest point (1,035 m), on a clear day, you can enjoy superb views of the capital, the Zagorje region and, beyond, the Slovenian Alps. The geographical expansion of the city has, for the most part, emptied the mountain of its fauna, even the bears, which have long since disappeared, even though the mountain bears their name(Medved). However, the nature park, which offers a wide range of outdoor activities, remains a green lung for the people of Zagreb. It's a large park where families can stroll freely through nature. Young and old alike can follow forest trails in the footsteps of Neanderthal man, or discover caves housing colonies of bats. You can also hike all year round from a variety of starting points, and ski (even if there are few pistes) between December and March, as snow conditions vary from season to season.

You can also visit the medieval fortress, built between 1249 and 1254 to defend the local population from Tatar incursions. After extensive restoration work, which took some fifteen years, the fortress has been used as a memorial since 1994: it has become a national memorial to those who died in the Croatian War of Independence (between August 17, 1990 and November 12, 1995).