Easter in Zagreb: Tradition, Hospitality and Holiday Cheer

Holidays are a time in which a tradition of a region is visible everywhere. In Zagreb the entire Holy Week and especially Easter is celebrated in every corner, transferring family customs, which are visible everywhere, to community life.

Holiday spirit is the most evident in streets and squares which are decorated with symbols of Easter, such as large decorated Easter eggs, flower arrangements and spring flowers. In addition to mass, many concerts of religious music are held at city churches, which adds to the solemn atmosphere. In parks, a series of which is connected in the city centre forming the Lenuci or Green Horseshoe, and in squares in front of cultural institutions there are many colourful spring flowers.

There are special rituals linked to the holiday food. On Easter morning, you will meet passers-by carrying nicely decorated baskets with food to be blessed and eaten at breakfast. These baskets certainly contain Easter eggs – ornamented boiled eggs, ham, green onion and radish and leavened pastries with walnut and poppyseeds filling, all covered with a beautifully embroidered napkin. A traditional Easter lunch consists of turkey roast with mlinci, thin-dried flatbread, tasty pastries, among which a frequent choice is štrukli, a savoury or sweet cheese strudel, and also leavened pastries and strudels. It is important to say that this family menu is reflected in the atmosphere as well as gastro offer of hotels and restaurants so a visit to Zagreb is a chance to enjoy a complete family tradition, sentiment and atmosphere.