Velika Gorica - Monuments and Sightseeing

Monuments and Sightseeing

Main Velika Gorica's sight is the Turopolje Museum which traces human presence in Turopolje since Neolithic. There are also a number of monuments scattered around the city and its environs.

Vrata od krča ("The Timber Gate") is a unique wooden monument to human labour, risen up in forest near the city. Monument was risen in 1779 as a symbol of reclaiming the fertile land from forest. It was torn down by the flood in 1914 and restored two years later.

Old town Lukavec is a very well preserved fortification first mentioned in 1256 as Caput Lukavec. It was build by wood as a defense from Ottoman invasion. It was first owned by Zagreb noblemen and Turopolje noblemen gained control over castle in 1553 when it already became a ruin. It was soon rebuild in stone and became a regular site of assembly of Turopolje noblemen.

Wooden chapels from Turopolje and Pokuplje are unique in the world. They can be traced far back in the early Middle Ages, but most of the preserved ones date from the 17th century. Today there are only 11 preserved wooden chapels left, three in Turopolje, two in Vukomeričke gorice and six in Pokuplje. They were built by groups of timber-workers and as a rule they were made of oak-tree.

There are several small monuments to World War II anti-fascist resistance movement (most famous being The Bomber Man in near city center) and also many monuments to Croatian soldiers who fought in Croatian War of Independence. The city has a beautiful new 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.