Recreation in the City's Green Oasis

First opened way back in 1794, Maksimir Park is still Zagreb's favourite spot for rest and recreation. Its exceptional landscape has earned it the title of a monument of park architecture, which is why it attracts numerous foreign visitors.

Besides boasting exquisite features of park architecture, which attract the attention of numerous visitors, Maksimir Park is also one of the favourite spots for rest and recreation for the citizens of Zagreb.

Under the initiative of Bishop Maksimilijan Vrhovac, the park was officially opened in 1794 as the first public park in South-Eastern Europe, and among the first such parks in the world.

On a surface of 316 hectares, the park boasts well preserved flora and fauna typical of lowland forests; it has as many as five lakes and credit for its design in the style of an English garden goes to Bishop Juraj Haulik. Owing to its exceptional value as a park forest it has been protected as a monument of park architecture and as part of the cultural heritage of the Republic of Croatia.

Bishop Vrhovac’s main motif for opening this park was to transform the old diocesan forest on the outskirts of the city into a place where the citizens of Zagreb would come for a bit of rest and recreation. Nowadays the park is surrounded by many of the city's neighbourhoods. The beginnings of many sporting events and games are linked to Maksimir Park. Let us mention but a few: in 1853 the first skating rink in Zagreb was opened on the Lower (the first) Lake; in 1894 Franjo Bučar, an athlete who spearheaded many new athletic disciplines in Croatia, organized the first ski school and ski tours there. The first international swimming competition and a water polo game were organized at the Lower Lake in 1923. In 1931 the first regional golf course was opened in Maksimir. It had nine holes and was opened by the Golf Club Zagreb, which had been established in 1927.

Maksimir Park still offers its visitors numerous recreational opportunities, ranging from walking on its well arranged paths, to Nordic walking, jogging, cycling, and rowing on the Third Lake, and for children there are two modern playgrounds on which to play. Numerous sports associations choose Maksimir Park as the place to organize different activities, and angling aficionados can take angling lessons on the Third Lake.