On a hot July day, a walk through the cemeteries of old Zagreb leads to the Perivoj srpanjskih žrtava (July Victims’ Park) – a peaceful oasis in the heart of the city. The trees and benches in the park do not reveal that one of the largest cemeteries in 19th-century Zagreb was here. Monuments in the grass are silent witnesses to what once was the cemetery around the chapel of St. George. At first a cemetery for poor citizens, it became the final resting place of the prominent and wealthy – the “Nobel Friedhof”. Many prominent figures of the Croatian National Revival were buried here, including Ljudevit Gaj, Stanko Vraz, Vjekoslav Babukić, Fran Kurelac, and Dragutin Seljan. The cemetery was closed after Mirogoj opened. It became a park named after the July victims killed in the 1845 political unrest.
For more information, see The Forgotten Cemeteries of Zagreb (2023).
Text and photographs: Petra Rajić Šikanjić
