Samobor
Always in your heart
Abour Samobor
Samobor is a town in the Zagreb County located in the valley on the eastern slopes of Samobor hills. The area of Samobor covers town center and 77 picturesque villages and small nearby places. Samobor is well known for its picnic grounds, city manifestations, local cuisine and culture.
The proximity of Zagreb and the Republic of Slovenia has rendered Samobor approachable to foreign and local tourists, majority of which comes from Zagreb.
Its position near Croatia’s capital gives it a pastoral charm described in a poem of a well-known Croatian poet who once lived in Samobor – Antun Gustav Matoš.
According to one legend the town was named Samobor (hr. samo+bor, eng. only+pine) because allegedly only pine trees grew here and even though that’s not the case, today one third of the town is covered in forested area in which pine trees are dominant.
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In the second half of the 19th century, Samobor was becoming organized and afforested. Town pools and parks were created which was the precondition for high-end tourism of the period. Throughout the beginning of the 20th century and all the way up to 1979, Samobor was connected with Zagreb via famous wagon and a railway line called “Samoborček”, which was depicted in a famous Croatian movie – “He who sings, means no harm”.
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Historians will tell you that Samobor was crucial for the uprising of Illyrian movement and that one of the most famous Croatian patriotic songs “Still Croatia hasn’t fallen” originated in the family home of a famous composer Ferdo Livadić.
In the words of the Ilyrian movement leader Ljudevit Gaj, himself – in the beginning of 1833, he was sleight-driving at night to Samobor. Mesmerized with winter beauty of surrounding scenery and hearing local music that was carried from the nearby village, he began arranging the verses. When he came to the home of Ferdo, he quickly asked for a piece of paper and started writing down the text which he came up with. Ferdo sat at his piano and started following his recital. That moment the famous song was born.
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Except for its history, Samobor is also well known for its numerous manifestations which outgrew their local limitations years ago. Most famous of them by far is Samobor’s Carnival, or as we call it Samoborski Fašnik. It is an old carnival tradition put between winter and spring time.
On Fašnik, especially from the year 1860 onward, there’s a constant presence of strong social and political critique of not just Samobor region but of wider geographical area as well. Josip Kompare was the man responsible for that. Upon his return from Europe, he brought back to Samobor some carnival elements from other European carnivals. He wrote carnival texts and slogans, painted illustrations and acted. Up until 1885 he was the main promoter and director of masked processions throughout the streets and squares of Samobor. With novelties like that, Samobor once again reaffirmed its place within the Central European cultural circle.
Samoborski fašnik is one of the traditional manifestations which became a trademark of Samobor and a symbol of its identity. Throughout Fašnik, Samobor becomes more joyful, more colorful and prettier, which all can be confirmed by many guests who come here from all over Croatia and Europe.
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Every year during spring time, Samobor becomes old medieval town on one day, thanks to the traditional reenactment of a battle from 1441 between armies of Queen Elizabeth and King of Poland – Vladislaus II. The battle is staged on a meadow Vugrinščak beneath the Old town of Samobor. The meadow turns into a knights camp with cavalrymen, swordsmen, bowmen, lots of battalion equipment, catapults, fortresses and many other medieval props. Whole Vugrinščak turns into a battleground and a big fair.
Of other Samobor events that you can visit, we offer Samobor Music Festival, a manifestation that, for more then thirty years, gathers top classical musicians from all over the world. Then, there is a Samobor Salami Festival – a gastronomy festival of local butchers which proves that tradition and family recipes can create a quality tourist attraction. Furthermore, we have Miners Cake Festival, Nights of Croatian love poetry, Circus Street Festival, Jazz Festival, Samobor Spring Fair, Advent Fair and many more manifestations which attract people to our beautiful town. If you like, you can find out more information about Samobor and its delights on the official website of Samobor by clicking on a logo below:
