Velika Gorica - WikiHQ

Velika Gorica () is the largest and most populous city in Zagreb County, Croatia. According to the 2011 census, the city itself has a population of 31,341, and the municipality has a population of 63,517 inhabitants.

Velika Gorica is the centre of the historical Turopolje region. Franjo Tuđman Airport, the largest and busiest airport in Croatia, is located in the area of Velika Gorica.

Name

The name of the city consists of two words. The first one, Velika, is an adjective, meaning 'big'. The second one is Gorica, which in standard Croatian is a diminutive of the word gora 'hill'. However, in the local Kajkavian dialect, gorica means 'vineyard', hence the city's name literally translated is 'big vineyard'. This is because this area has produced wine since ancient times.

Velika Gorica also has (or had) names in other languages, notably Hungarian Nagygoricza and German Gross-Gorica.

Geography

The City of Velika Gorica, located south of Zagreb, is the centre of an area covering . Up until 1990 Velika Gorica had the status of a municipality and after that it became a part of Zagreb. Velika Gorica gained city status in 1995. The area of the old Municipality of Velika Gorica was split into three municipalities – Kravarsko, Orle and Pokupsko.

Velika Gorica is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of the traditional Turopolje region. Regarding the Turopolje name, among the most common opinions is that the name, meaning "Tur field", comes from an old Slavic word "tur" which means Aurochs, an ancient type of cattle with long horns, which was a symbol of fertility and the sun god. These cattle died out in the 16th century. The cattle were closely related to agriculture. Plowing had a symbolic meaning, the fertilization of Mother Earth, so these cattle were often assumed to have "sacred" characteristics. Because of its importance in the life of the plowmen, "tur" became the basis for numerous toponyms. However, as recently as the 16th century, Turopolje was called Campus Zagrebiensis, i.e. "Zagreb field", or just Campus (field). At that time the name was replaced by "Tur field", i.e. Turopolje.

The A11 (Zagreb-Sisak) highway is planned to become the western bypass of Velika Gorica. State route D31 will be the eastern bypass. It is planned that these bypasses will relieve the traffic along the overcrowded Velikogorička road, the fastest link between Zagreb and Velika Gorica .

Population

In the census of 2011, the total population of administrative area of the city (the municipality) was 63,517, in the following settlements:

In a competition held among 5,300 European cities, Velika Gorica was awarded the Silver Flower of Europe – an award presented by the European Association for Flowers and Landscape Entente Florale. The award was accepted on 9 September 2004, in the French town of Aix-les-Bains.

Education

Velika Gorica has four elementary schools (Eugen Kvaternik, Eugen Kumičić, Juraj Habdelić and Nikola Hribar) and four high schools (Vocational School Velika Gorica, Gymnasium Velika Gorica, Economy School of Velika Gorica and Aviation Technical School Rudolf Perešin). In addition, there is a higher education institute, the Velika Gorica University of Applied Sciences.

Culture

thumb|250px|Velika Gorica from air

People's Open University

Established in 1960, the People's Open University (hr: Pučko otvoreno učilište, shortform POU) began a phase of rich and complex development in its first home, a building which was previously an inn, and which was situated opposite the present-day building of this institution at 37 Zagrebačka Street. In the year of its establishment the institution as connected with the already existing Public Library, and three years later, in 1963, by the Cinema Company “Prosvjeta”. Together, they conducted their activities in the former House of Cooperatives “Zadružni dom”, where the present administration is situated and a part of the POU's activities are still performed today.

By initiating and developing numerous activities the university has spread out to new locations. The most important step was made in 1980, when the Cultural Centre was built, with an art gallery, an additional library and a chamber hall in Galženica, a part of Velika Gorica.

In the late 1980s the university was also using space in the old Secondary School at 5 Zagrebačka Street (the Music School), in the House of Social Protection (Dom društvene samozaštite), today’s Fire Brigade building (the radio-station) and in the Podbrežnica settlement (the library). In 1993 the Music School moved to a new building in Kolarova Street where it has remained until the present day.

It was on the premises of the People's Open University that many people in Velika Gorica saw their first film or theatre performance, borrowed their first book or attended their first concert or exhibition. There they learned to play their first notes and master the basics of a foreign language. They entered a disco for the first time in their lives. They learned how to drive a car or heard their own voices on a radio station. Some of them, thanks to this broad spectrum of activities, published their first books or displayed their first exhibitions right here.

In recent years, the building of the Open University has been renovated and technically equipped. The philosophy of the institution has been to listen attentively to the needs of the local populace and design programmes in accord with their changing requirements.

Today, the People's Open University seeks to satisfy the diverse cultural needs of Velika Gorica's citizens through its theatre, gallery, concerts, publishing, cinema and other activities that encourage people to meet and exchange ideas. A great deal was achieved between 2006 and 2010, when actress Senka Bulić served as head of the POU and brought the university's theatre, Scena Gorica, to the attention of the theatre-going public throughout the country. During her tenure Klub 100, a multimedia space for the development of urban culture, was additionally founded and became an important part of the cultural landscape for young people especially.

Libraries and galleries

Libraries and reading rooms have a long tradition in Turopolje, since there is a deeply rooted interest in and love for books in this region. The Velika Gorica city library is the descendant of the Reading Room in Velika Gorica, established in 1886. Since October 1999 it has operated independently in two locations: the Central Library at 37 Zagrebačka Street and the Regional Galženica Library at 5 S. Radić Square.

Turopolje Museum

thumb|250px|Turopolje Museum.

Founded in 1960, the Turopolje Museum is concerned with the preservation and promotion of the cultural heritage of the historic Turopolje, Pokuplje, Posavina and Vukomeričke gorice regions. The Museum is housed in a building dating from 1750, which previously served as the city hall of the Noble Commune of Turopolje. It is situated in the centre of Velika Gorica, on the eastern edge of the main park. This two-storey building with a colonnade on the ground floor was built in a Baroque style with elements of the traditional Turopolje architectural style. Assemblies called “spravišća” were once held in the large hall on the upper floor. The rooms next to the hall were archives where the important documents of the Noble Commune were kept. The ground floor at one time housed prison cells. The Museum has a collection comprising some 3,500 objects and over 10,000 photographical records. The Museum library has around 700 volumes on subjects relating to the region's history.

Public monuments

thumb|200px|A monument to fallen soldiers in the Croatian War of Independence.

At the end of the 1970s in particular, moderately intensive development of Velika Gorica's city centre and the surrounding districts took place. In an attempt to accommodate the need both for green space and for an aesthetic dimension to development, over the city history a number of parks have been created, most of which contain pieces of public sculpture.

The beginning of the 21st century was most important for urban uprising of Velika Gorica. New central park was created that carries the name of first Croatian president, dr. Franjo Tuđman. Tuđman's park soon became one of the most important urban spaces in Velika Gorica.

Sport

Sports clubs in Velika Gorica include the football clubs HNK Gorica and NK Udarnik, a men's handball club HRK Gorica, a women's volleyball club OK Azena and a men's basketball club KK Gorica.

HNK Gorica plays its home games at Stadion Radnik, built for 1987 Summer Universiade while NK Udarnik has its own field in Kurilovec neighborhood. Indoor sports are mainly played in the city sports hall. There also three elementary school sports halls in the city that are used by sports clubs for trainings and youth categories.

References

Sources

External links

Velika Gorica official web page
Velika-gorica.org – Informativni Portal Velike Gorice