Osijek

Croatia is more than just a coat! Don't miss the opportunity to visit charming Osijek and its surrounding, and convince yourself in its warm-hearted people, delicious food, beautiful nature, rich heritage and a wealth of outdoor activities.

Osijek and region abounds with cultural and historical heritage, unique continental architecture, churches, fortresses, castles, thermal springs and health resorts based on thermal mineral waters.

All this are waiting to be explored and if you want to go further is good to know that within an hour from Osijek you can reach Hungary, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Zagreb

The Church of St Mark in Zagreb was built in the 13th century in the Romanesque style and was then redesigned in the Gothic style. Its portal shows Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus as well as the twelve Apostles and the Evangelist St Mark with his symbol, the lion. The varnished tiles on the roof (1880 show the escutcheon of the city of Zagreb (white castle on a red background) and the coat of arms of the kingdoms of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia. 

general information

Republic

Capital: Zagreb

Surface area: 56.500 km2

Population: 4,3 millions

Population density/km2: 76

Member of the EU since 2013

National day: June 25

National anthem: Lijepa nasa domovino

• Under Louis XIV, the Croatian regiment wore a scarf, giving us the word cravat (tie), derived from the Croatian word Hrvat/Cravate, followed by cravate (french), Krawatte (german), corbata ( spanish), cravatta (italian), gravata (portughuse), kravat (hungarian), krawat (polish), krawatt (swedish).

• Tourism makes up 25% of GDP.

• Croatia was the last country to continue to use Latin as the official language of parliament.

• Five Roman emperors came from Illyria (modern-day Croatia).

• The Latin words slavus and sclavus, and the words slave and Slavonia, go back to a time when slaves were Slavs from the Balkans and Slavonia.

• The monastery created by a monk named Marinus (from Rab, Croatia) was the basis for the small republic of San Marino (which is not part of the EU).

• Le Sabor, the Croatian parliament, is one of the oldest in Europe.

• The technique of taking fingerprints, or Dactyloscopy, was invented by the Croatian criminologist Ivan Vucetic (1858-1925).

• Croatian soldiers saved Napoleon at the Battle of Berezina.

With over 1100 non-touristy islands, this is a great country to island hop and bop. Back on the mainland check out Dubrovnik, Zagreb, Samobor and Varazdin and if you want to party with the locals, head to the beautiful beach town of Hvar. Croatia has some gorgeous national parks filled with glistening lakes and amazing canyons.