Velika Gorica
Velika Gorica
| City of Velika Gorica Grad Velika Gorica |
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| Nickname(s): Gorica | |||
 City of Velika Gorica
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| Coordinates: 45°42′N 16°04′E / 45.7°N 16.067°ECoordinates: 45°42′N 16°04′E / 45.7°N 16.067°E | |||
| Country | Croatia | ||
| County | Zagreb County | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Dražen Barišić (HDZ) | ||
| Area | |||
| - City | 552 km2 (213.1 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2011) | |||
| - City | 63,511 | ||
| - Density | 115.1/km2 (298/sq mi) | ||
| - Urban | 31,341 | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 10410 | ||
| Area code(s) | 01 | ||
| Patron saints | St. Lucia | ||
| Website | gorica.hr | ||
Velika Gorica (Croatian pronunciation: [vê̞likaː gɔ̝̌rit͡sa]) is the largest and most populous city in Zagreb County, Croatia. The city itself has a population of 31,341, while the municipality has a population of 63,511 inhabitants (2011).
Velika Gorica is the centre of the historical Turopolje region.
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Geography
The City of Velika Gorica, located 16 km (9.94 mi) south of Zagreb, is the centre of an area covering 552 square kilometers. Up until 1990 Velika Gorica had the status of a municipality and after that it became a part of Zagreb. Velika Gorica gained city status in 1995. The area of the old Municipality of Velika Gorica was split into three municipalities – Kravarsko, Orle and Pokupsko.
Velika Gorica is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of the traditional Turopolje region. Regarding the Turopolje name, among the most common opinions is that the name, meaning "Tur field", comes from an old Slavic word "tur" which means Aurochs, an ancient type of cattle with long horns, which was a symbol of fertility and the sun god. These cattle died out in the 16th century. The cattle were closely related to agriculture. Plowing had a symbolic meaning, the fertilization of Mother Earth, so these cattle were often assumed to have "sacred" characteristics. Because of its importance in the life of the plowmen, "tur" became the basis for numerous toponyms. However, as recently as the 16th century, Turopolje was called Campus Zagrebiensis, i.e. "Zagreb field", or just Campus (field). At that time the name was replaced by "Tur field", i.e. Turopolje.
The A11 (Zagreb-Sisak) highway is planned to become the western bypass of Velika Gorica. State route D31 will be the eastern bypass. It is planned that these bypasses will relieve the traffic along the overcrowded Velikogorička road, the fastest link between Zagreb and Velika Gorica at present.
Population
In the census of 2011, the total population of administrative area of the city (the municipality) was 63,511, in the following settlements:
- Bapča, population 130
- Bukovčak, population 66
- Buševec, population 889
- Cerovski Vrh, population 89
- Cvetković Brdo, population 32
- Črnkovec, population 413
- Donja Lomnica, population 1,716
- Donje Podotočje, population 377
- Drenje Šćitarjevsko, population 202
- Dubranec, population 350
- Gornja Lomnica, population 582
- Gornje Podotočje, population 492
- Gradići, population 1,808
- Gudci, population 373
- Gustelnica, population 118
- Jagodno, population 516
- Jerebić, population 41
- Ključić Brdo, population 213
- Kobilić, population 520
- Kozjača, population 343
- Kuče, population 1,460
- Lazi Turopoljski, population 58
- Lazina Čička, population 552
- Lekneno, population 379
- Lukavec, population 1,136
- Mala Buna, population 258
- Mala Kosnica, population 49
- Markuševec Turopoljski, population 321
- Mičevec, population 1,281
- Mraclin, population 1,068
- Novaki Šćitarjevski, population 165
- Novo Čiče, population 1,262
- Obrezina, population 577
- Ogulinec, population 296
- Okuje, population 467
- Petina, population 211
- Petravec, population 74
- Petrovina Turopoljska, population 702
- Poljana Čička, population 688
- Prvonožina, population 42
- Rakitovec, population 573
- Ribnica, population 794
- Sasi, population 164
- Selnica Šćitarjevska, population 537
- Sop Bukevski, population 86
- Staro Čiče, population 783
- Strmec Bukevski, population 368
- Šćitarjevo, population 440
- Šiljakovina, population 668
- Trnje, population 52
- Turopolje, population 951
- Velika Buna, population 847
- Velika Gorica, population 31,341
- Velika Kosnica, population 799
- Velika Mlaka, population 3,326
- Vukomerić, population 162
- Vukovina, population 945
- Zablatje Posavsko, population 60
History
Velika Gorica was founded in the year 1278. The surrounding region of Turopolje has been populated since ancient times. The Roman city of Andautonia was 8 km north-east of the present-day location of Velika Gorica.
Notable residents and people from Velika Gorica
- Vladimir Bakarić - Croatian communist and politician in Socialist Yugoslavia
- Igor Bišćan - football player (currently at NK Dinamo Zagreb)
- Tomislav Butina - former football player
- Mario Cvitanović - former football player
- Mato Lovrić - Croatian illustrator
- Jura Ozmec - Croatian sports commentator
- Tonino Picula - former Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Božidar Prosenjak - Croatian writer
- Sonja Smolec - Croatian writer
- Ivan Šuker - former Croatian Minister of Finance
- Martina Dalić - current Croatian Minister of Finance
- Robert Troha - basketball player (currently at KK Cedevita)
- Ivana Banfić - Croatian singer
- Jacques Houdek - Croatian singer
- Rene Medvešek - Croatian actor
- Gordan Kožulj - Croatian swimmer
- Ivan Žurić - Croatian journalist
- Aleksa Bjeliš - physicist and present rector of Zagreb University
Monuments and Sightseeing
Velika Gorica has a museum, the Turopolje Museum and a number of monuments scattered around the city and its environs. The city has a monument to soldiers from the city who lost their lives in the Croatian War of Independence.
In a competition held among 5,300 European cities, Velika Gorica was awarded the Silver Flower of Europe – an award presented by the European Association for Flowers and Landscape Entente Florale. The award was accepted on 9 September 2004, in the French town of Aix-les-Bains.
Education
Velika Gorica has four elementary schools ("Eugen Kvaternik", "Eugen Kumičić", "Juraj Habdelić" and "Nikola Hribar") and one high school. In addition, there is a higher education institute, the Velika Gorica University of Applied Sciences.
Culture
People's Open University
Established in 1960, the People's Open University (POU) began a phase of rich and complex development in its first home, a building which was previously an inn, and which was situated opposite the present-day building of this institution at 37 Zagrebačka Street. In the year of its establishment the institution as connected with the already existing Public Library, and three years later, in 1963, by the Cinema Company “Prosvjeta”. Together, they conducted their activities in the former House of Cooperatives “Zadružni dom”, where the present administration is situated and a part of the POU's activities are still performed today.
By initiating and developing numerous activities the University has spread out to new locations. The most important step was made in 1980, when the Cultural Centre was built, with an art gallery, an additional library and a chamber hall in Galženica, a part of Velika Gorica.
In the late 1980s the University was also using space in the old Secondary School at 5 Zagrebačka Street (the Music School), in the House of Social Protection (Dom društvene samozaštite), today’s Fire Brigade building (the radio-station) and in the Podbrežnica settlement (the library). In 1993 the Music School moved to a new building in Kolarova Street where it has remained until the present day.
It was on the premises of the People's Open University that many people in Velika Gorica saw their first film or theatre performance, borrowed their first book or attended their first concert or exhibition. There they learned to play their first notes and master the basics of a foreign language. They entered a disco for the first time in their lives. They learned how to drive a car or heard their own voices on a radio station. Some of them, thanks to this broad spectrum of activities, published their first books or displayed their first exhibitions right here.
In recent years, the building of the Open University has been renovated and technically equipped. The philosophy of the institution has been to listen attentively to the needs of the local populace and design programmes in accord with their changing requirements.
Today, the People's Open University seeks to satisfy the diverse cultural needs of Velika Gorica's citizens through its theatre, gallery, concerts, publishing, cinema and other activities that encourage people to meet and exchange ideas. A great deal was achieved between 2006 and 2010, when actress Senka Bulić served as Head of the POU and brought the University's theatre, Scena Gorica, to the attention of the theatre-going public throughout the country. During her tenure Klub 100, a multimedia space for the development of urban culture, was additionally founded and became an important part of the cultural landscape for young people especially.
Libraries and galleries
Libraries and reading rooms have a long tradition in Turopolje, since there is a deeply rooted interest in and love for books in this region. The Velika Gorica city library is the descendant of the Reading Room in Velika Gorica, established in 1886. Since October 1999 it has operated independently in two locations: the Central Library at 37 Zagrebačka Street and the Regional Galženica Library at 5 S. Radić Square.
Turopolje Museum
Founded in 1960, the Turopolje Museum is concerned with the preservation and promotion of the cultural heritage of the historic Turopolje, Pokuplje, Posavina and Vukomeričke gorice regions. The Museum is housed in a building dating from 1750, which previously served as the city hall of the Noble Commune of Turopolje. It is situated in the centre of Velika Gorica, on the eastern edge of the main park. This two-storey building with a colonnade on the ground floor was built in a Baroque style with elements of the traditional Turopolje architectural style. Assemblies called “spravišća” were once held in the large hall on the upper floor. The rooms next to the hall were archives where the important documents of the Noble Commune were kept. The ground floor at one time housed prison cells. The Museum has a collection comprising some 3,500 objects and over 10,000 photographical records. The Museum library has around 700 volumes on subjects relating to the region's history.
Public monuments
At the end of the 1970s in particular, moderately intensive development of Velika Gorica's city centre and the surrounding districts took place. In an attempt to accommodate the need both for green space and for an aesthetic dimension to development, over the city history a number of parks have been created, most of which contain pieces of public sculpture.
Sport
Notable sports clubs in Velika Gorica include the football clubs HNK Gorica and NK Udarnik, a men's handball club HRK Gorica, a women's volleyball club OK Azena and a men's basketball club KK Gorica.
Bibliography
- Cresswell, Peterjon; Atkins, Ismay; Dunn, Lily (10 July 2006). Time Out Croatia (First ed.). London, Berkeley & Toronto: Time Out Group Ltd & Ebury Publishing, Random House Ltd. 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SV1V 2SA. ISBN 978-1-904978-70-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=VZweAAAACAAJ. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
Notes
- ^ a b c "Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011, First Results by Settlements" (in Croatian and English) (HTML). Statistical Reports (Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics) (1441). June 2011. ISSN 1332-0297. http://www.dzs.hr/Eng/censuses/census2011/htm/E11_Zup12_5410.html. Retrieved 2011-08-26.
- ^ Otkriven spomenik poginulim velikogoričkim braniteljima
- ^ http://teatar.hr/47240/interview-senka-bulic/
- ^ http://www.vecernji.hr/zagreb/skare-ozbolt-ipak-zeli-da-senka-bulic-vodi-scenu-gorica-clanak-192532
- ^ http://www.jutarnji.hr/senka-bulic--kazaliste-necu-raditi-iz-sobicka-u-koji-me-trpa-par-politicara/892684/
- ^ http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Kultura/tabid/81/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/117717/Default.aspx
- ^ http://www.muzej-turopolja.hr/omuzeju.html
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Towns and municipalities of Zagreb County 