Travel to the city where romance reigns

Sink into a love seat, pose at a kissing spot and nibble on a gingerbread heart in Zagreb in Croatia, where romance reigns

January 03, 2018 02:54 pm | Updated January 04, 2018 01:08 pm IST

 St Marks Church

St Marks Church

It is a warm day in Zagreb, the Croatian capital, and I am lost in a riot of colours. Standing in front of me are colourful wooden dolls, but I am more fascinated by the bleeding red hearts that surround me in different sizes and shapes. I am in the bustling Dolac Market, one of the oldest farmer markets in the city. Besides the souvenir stalls, the traditional open market, with a shelter below, sells everything from fruits and vegetables to fish and flowers. One of the women in the stalls tells me that the bleeding red hearts are the symbols of Zagreb, touted as the City of Love.

Gifts in romance

 Cathedral

Cathedral

There is something endearing about these wooden red hearts, referred to as Licitar, that take me down to the medieval ages. “Traditionally, they were gifts of love,” says our guide Hela Markanović, as we walk towards the Kapitol, where Zagreb’s Gothic Cathedral with its famous kissing spots stands. Markanović adds that Licitar were actually gingerbread cakes or biscuits made with flour, honey and eggs and given as gifts during weddings. The tradition of gifting a Licitar can be traced to a ballet composed by a renowned Croatian composer titled ‘Licitarsko srce’ or the ‘Gingerbread Heart’. “The boy used to give a gingerbread heart to his dancing partner with hidden romantic messages inside them,” she says. Pottering around Zagreb, I see red hearts everywhere. Markanović and I find a love seat in red, where we sip coffee while I get a class in history. Zagreb is divided into two parts — the Lower Town or Donji Grad and the Upper Town or Gornji Grad. The former is a montage of monuments from the era of the Austrian Hungarian Empire, while the latter is a charming blend of romantic churches and quirky museums.

A funicular takes you between the two towns in just a minute, as you zip from one era to another. We, however, take a long, leisurely walk and climb the stone steps behind the ledges to Upper Town. Sculptures and statues surround me. Standing in front is a victorious St George on his horse, squashing a dragon under its foot. The Stone Gate to the Upper Town is a shrine to St Mary, depicted on a painting. Locals throng the gate to light a candle, as they believe that the painting had magical properties that withstood Second World War bombings.

Medieval church

Markanović takes me to the quaint medieval St Mark’s Church, which seems straight out of a fairytale. Painted in white, the sloping roof glistens with ceramic tiles that represent the Zagreb Coat of Arms and the flags of the Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia. On weekends, the change-of-guard ceremony takes place at St Mark’s Square. And that is when I hear about the Cravats. It is windy and Markanović wraps a scarf around my neck, painted in hues of the Adriatic coast. There is a necktie for men, which has Dalmatian dogs popping out of them. I am, however, in a pattern that displays the oldest known Slavic alphabet from the Glagolitic script. Historically, the Cravats can be traced to the 16th Century, when the Croatian military, who fought alongside the French, wore these scarves around their neck. There was something special about these knots, says Markanović, adding that the soldiers wore these scarves with so much panache that the French made it a fashion accessory. But there is a romantic story as well. Although the Cravats were worn by men, it was their girlfriends who had tied the scarves around their necks, as a parting gift before sending them off to war. The Croats, however, are so proud of their contribution to fashion, that they even have a National Cravat Day on October 18 to commemorate it.

 Zagreb

Zagreb

A shot at time

It is almost noon and we are standing in front of the imposing Lotrscak Tower, when the Gric Cannon is fired to signify the time. As I wonder why it is a shot from a cannon and not a gong from a clock tower, Markanović recounts a legend from the medieval era. The city was then under threat from the Turks, who had set up camp on the other bank of the river. A shot from the cannon was fired to intimidate them. It landed right on a plate of chicken as the Turks were lunching! It was almost noon and the Turks apparently fled. The cannon since then has not stopped firing every noon. Souvenirs are not just pieces of memorabilia you pick from a city. They are symbols of a city’s cultural mosaic, and they take you down the path of history, traditions, folklore and sometimes even the very identity of the city.

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