Zagreb is the capital and largest city in the republic of Croatia. Located in the northwest of the country, on the river Sava, the city is the centre of administration, travel, business and culture in the country. Its strategic location at the point where Western Europe and the Mediterranean meet southeastern Europe gives it great significance as a transport hub for not just Croatia but the entire region as a whole.
Zagreb can trace its origins back to the Roman times, its first settlement dates back to the 1st Century. Zagreb itself was not officially founded until nearly a millennium later by the Hungarian King Ladislaus, and in 1242 it gained the honour of Free Royal Town. In 1845 it became the capital of Croatia and got its first mayor 6 years after that. After the mid-1950s the city expanded rapidly to the south, east and west, including the formation of a new district on the other side of the Sava: Novi Zagreb. Although some fighting took place in the city during the Croatian War of Independence and it suffered being hit by rocket strikes, Zagreb did manage to escape the war largely intact.
Since the end of the war, Zagreb has attracted close to a million visitors annually. The historic part of the city, comprised of the Gornji Grad and Kaptol, is a whole network of winding medieval streets populated by churches, museums, palaces, galleries and government buildings. The months between spring and autumn are the busiest times of the year for tourists, but with good reason, as they are also the best times of year to visit the city.
