ja_mageia

Just north of  Markov trg, at Mletačka 8, the Meštrovic Atelier (Tues-Fri 9am-2pm, Sat 10am-6pm) occupies the house where Croatia's foremost twentieth-century sculptor, Ivan Meštrović,

Approached through the courtyard of the former Convent of the Poor Clare:, the museum occupies a complex of buildings tacked on to the thirteenth-century Popov toranj (Priests'Tower), which was built to provide the clerics of poorly defended Kaptol with a refuge in case of attack. Inside the museum, models of Zagreb through the ages reveal the changing face of the city, and there's a modest but well-chosen selection of weaponry, furnishings and costumes. Sacral art taken from local churches includes an expressive seventeenth-century sculptural ensemble depicting Jesus flanked by the apostles, which originally stood above the portal of Zagreb cathedral. Upstairs, political posters, photographs of political leaders and ideological slogans help to breathe life into the turbulent history of the twentieth century; one of the final rooms contains an unintentionally surreal display of the furniture destroyed by the JNA (Yugoslav People's Army) rocket attack on Gradec in October 1991, with smashed crockery and splintered furniture arranged as if part of some contemporary art exhibit.