Gradec, Zagreb

Gradec (Croatian pronunciation: [grǎdet͡s]) or Grič (Croatian pronunciation: [grîːtʃ], Hungarian: Gréc, Latin: Mons Graecensis prope Zagrabiam) is a part of Zagreb, Croatia, and together with Kaptol it is the medieval nucleus of the city. It is situated on the hill of Gornji Grad.

Gradec was given a royal charter by King Béla IV in 1242. The royal charter, also called the Golden Bull, was a very important document by which Gradec was declared and proclaimed "a free royal city on Gradec, the hill of Zagreb". This act made Gradec a feudal holding responsible directly to the king. The citizens were given rights of different kinds; among other things they were entitled to elect their own city magistrate (Croatian: gradski sudac) fulfilling the role of mayor. They were also entitled to manage their own affairs.

The citizens engaged in building defensive walls and towers around their settlement, fearing a new Mongol invasion. They completed the defensive system at a time between 1242 and 1261. It could be rightly assumed that by building its fortification walls in the middle of the 13th century, Gradec acquired its outward appearance that can be clearly seen in today's Upper Town (Gornji Grad). The defensive walls enclosed the settlement in the shape of a triangle, its top located near the tower called Popov toranj and its base at the south wall (today's Strossmayer Promenade) and Lotrščak tower, which could be explained by the shape of the hill. In some places, rectangular and semicircular towers fortified the defensive walls.

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