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Krapina and Zagorje County

Situated in the northwestern section of Croatia, the Krapina and Zagorje county takes up the area of Donje zagorje surrounded by mounts Medvednica, Ivancica, Strahinjcica and the Macelj hills. The climate is a good one as far as living conditions are concerned, especially the Zagorje hills. This is also supported by the findings of trails of Palaeolithic men and animals some 100,000 years old at Husnjak's hill near Krapina. This area today remains one of the most populated in Croatia ( 121 inhabitant per 1 km2).

Not a single larger city has developed in Zagorje, but most of the towns are well known as trade fair and votive churches' venues. However, the county centre Krapina, mentioned for the first time in 1193 had become a small Zagorje metropolis, also becoming the first Croatian town positioned at the international traffic route between Central Europe and the East and towards the Mediterranean. Some 40 castles and mansions deriving from the middle ages had been preserved in the region, enriching it with cultural monuments, one of the best known ones being Veliki Tabor and the castles of Trakoscan and Miljana.

This is the birth region of Matija Gubec, Ljudevit Gaj, Josip Broz, Franjo Tudjman and other important figures in Croatian history with the monument to the Croatian anthem also standing here, which is a rare monument on the world scale.

Spiritual shrines are scattered across the county and its hills. Some of the most interesting sacral buildings on the world heritage monument list (The Majka Bozja Snjezna church in Belec and the Majka Bozja Jeruzalemska church at Trski Vrh) can be found here and the county is abundant in thermal springs - in Stubica, Tuhelj and Sutin, all of them developing health tourism. This is the one of the ecologically soundest counties and as such it is focusing its interests on the development of farm and ecological tourism and health food production.