Zabok


Zabok is a town and municipality situated in northwest Croatia in the Krapina-Zagorje County. It has a total population of 8,994. Zabok is situated on the main crossroads in the heart of Hrvatsko zagorje region. Zabok is the economical centre of the Krapina-Zagorje County.

Geography

Zabok is located at, at an altitude of 186 m above sea level.
The following settlements comprise the municipality:
In the 2011 census, 98% of the population were Croats.
The biggest park area in Zabok is Milan Prpić's park. There are also other smaller parks in the centre of Zabok, along with a number of playgrounds which were built as part of the town's housing projects. The town's cemetery with its finely kept garden is located in the north-eastern part of the town centre.

Politics

The town's major Ivan Hanžek was elected a member of the Croatian Parliament in the 2007 parliamentary election.

Etymology and earliest references

"Zabok" means "behind the river curve". The name Zabok first appeared in 1335 in a text in which ownership of Zabok was given to Petar, son of Nuzlin, by the King of Hungary, Karlo I. The Nuzlin family added the prefix de Zabok to their name and, by the 15th century, had started naming themselves "Zaboky de Zabok".

History

In 1782, Sigismund Vojković-Vojkffy started the construction of a church in Zabok, completing it in 1805. With the abolition of the feudalism, former serfs were offered a possibility of choosing their own place of settlement, and the majority settled along the roads connecting Gredice and Bračak with the new centre developing around the church, to form the new city centre. The town reached its final shape in the period after World War II, when it spread longitudinally along the northern side of the railway track.

Culture

Zabok is home to monuments to Antun Gustav Matoš and Katarina Zrinska. The soprano Vlatka Oršanić was born in Zabok and received her early music education at the music school there.