Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Zagreb

The complex of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is one of the most recognisable ensembles in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. Besides the sacral building, it includes the episcopal fortress, the archbishop's court and a park, and so it offers the visitor a story of the city across many centuries.

The three-nave cathedral with three apses and two bell towers was built gradually from the 13th century, on the site of an older church destroyed in 1241. The sanctuary was erected by Bishop Timothy from 1263 to 1287, the nave with the towers was built in the 14th century, and the vault at the beginning of the 15th. The re-Gothicisation began in 1879 to a design by Friedrich von Schmidt, which was elaborated and carried out by Hermann Bollé, and was completed in 1902. The episcopal fortress with six cylindrical and two rectangular towers was built at the beginning of the 16th century. The archbishop's court is of a Baroque concept from 1729, and in it is preserved the Romanesque-Gothic chapel of St Stephen the Protomartyr from 1250, with remains of wall paintings of rulers and bishops. Ribnjak Park was once the bishop's garden, laid out around 1830.

The complex is a protected cultural property and is entered in the Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia under the code Z-202.

Photo: VitVit, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Data: Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia (Ministry of Culture and Media), Open Licence; coordinates: Wikidata (CC0).