Built between 1242 and 1266 (and renovated in the 18th century), the humble-looking Stone Gate is the last of the historic gates that once guarded Zagreb. It may not be the city’s top tourist attractions, but inside it is a storied shrine visited by locals every day.
The shrine, dedicated to Our Lady of the Stone Gate—the Virgin Mary as the patron saint of Zagreb—is home to a gilded icon of Madonna and Child that purportedly survived the great fire of 1731. People come here to light a candle and pray, a tradition that can be traced back to the Middle Ages.
It is said that the townsfolk would pray to Mary for safety for the day every time they went to work on the farms outside the gate, then gave her thanks on their way home. Even today, the walls are covered with prayers and thanks engraved on slabs of marble, many of which read “Hvala ti,” which is Croatian for “Thank you.”
Additionally, an oft-overlooked feature of the Stone Gate is on the outside: in a niche facing the street is a statue of Dora Krupićeva (sometimes mistaken by tourists for Mary), the protagonist of the 1871 novel The Goldsmith’s Treasure by August Šenoa, which is set in 16th-century Zagreb.
