Zagreb Tunnels

Zagreb has its share of mysteries, its underground being the most secretive mystery of all. There are tunnels beneath the old city. Many locals call them catacombs. Don’t worry, they’re not catacombs. The catacombs are well hidden under the Zagreb cathedral, and they only get opened when the angel of death comes for an archbishop.

Speaking of catacombs, there used to be more. When they were building the famous central farmers market called Dolac, they had to get rid of an ossuary first. They found tons of skulls and bones there, and they were even thinking of turning it all into a tourist attraction. But then, it all collapsed. It literally remained buried under the most colorful place in the city.

Then, there are stories about secretive underground passages. Rumor is, they’re still all over the city center. Rumor was, that back in the Middle Ages, the rulers of a fortress near the city used their secret underground passage to reach StMark’s church.

I’m not sure about that, maybe it’s just an old story. But I do know one thing for sure. Heads of Croatian state really loved to build tunnels and bunkers. Especially in 20th century. No wonder Croatia is becoming new urbex hotspot with all those menacing military objects well hidden under the most beautiful surface. The capital of Zagreb got its tunnel called Gric in the heart of the city. During WWII, they started building an immense passage under the charming old town. Tunnel Gric is huge, goes under the entire hill of the same name. And it has been locked for public for decades. Not completely, though, it was open on a few special occasions. You would never guess what took place inside!

During the Homeland war in the ’90s, it was used as a shelter. Ok, that one was easy. Then, there were theater plays.. And a floral exhibition… really!

But the most famous event of all.. It was, without doubt, the Undercity Rave. You can imagine that everyone who was there still remembers the party. It was back in 1993 when Croatia was still at war, but that didn’t stop people from all over Europe to come. There were thousands of people, which was more than the tunnel could take. Many just had to stay outside. As you can imagine, the neighbours were furious. Down at the police station, the phone kept ringing the entire night.

Despite all of these intriguing events and stories, the locals keep forgetting there is a huge tunnel under their hometown. And now, the city authorities have finally decided to open it up for public. It is being turned into a tourist attraction.

But don’t be mislead, they’re not going to let us see all of it. Even if a part of the tunnel is open, there are still more secrets buried under this city, patiently awaiting to get unlocked.