Velika Gorica
Velika Gorica, a town 16 km south of Zagreb, an integral part of Greater Zagreb. First mentioned under the name of Gorica in 1228. King Bela IV chartered it in 1242. Chief manufactures include wood, food and leather processing, and printing industry. The Zagreb airport Pleso is in the vicinity. Velika Gorica lies on the main road (M12.2) Zagreb - Sisak and the railway Zagreb - Sisak.
The archaeological finds date back to the pre-historic (the culture of tumuli with urns), ancient (Roman tombs from the early period of the empire) periods and the early Middle Ages (artefacts, pottery of the Carolingian cultural circle).
The so-called Turopoljski Grad in the centre of Velika Gorica is a two-storey tower of a rectangular ground-plan (around 1765) with a porch in the ground floor facing the park. It used to seat the "Noble Municipalities of Turopolje"; the hall on the first floor (stucco, fresco ornamentation) used to host assemblies ("spravisca"). The building houses the Museum of Turopolje (founded in 1960), with archaeological, ethnographic, cultural and historical collections.
The parish church of the Annunciation of Mary (1686-1690) was restored in the historicist style by H. Bollé in 1893; the church furniture dates from the same period. The Galzenica Gallery has been within the Peoples' University since 1980.
