On March 10th the MYP1 and MYP2 Croatian Language and Literature groups went on a tour called “The Footsteps of August Šenoa” visiting the locations in Zagreb centre where August Šenoa, one of the greatest Croatian novelist, lived and worked.  

We started our tour at the Ban Jelačić Square, where we met our tour guide, Ms. Jasmina Reis who is the heir to the Šenoa family legacy. There we learned about Šenoa’s family origins on his father and mother side. Then we headed to the Bloody Bridge, where we found out some further facts about Šenoa and his education. The Stone Gate, once the main entrance to the medieval town, was our next stop, with a view on the house where Šenoa used to live with his wife and three children. We listened the story about Šenoa’s famous novel ‘Zlatarevo zlato’ and the main characters - Dora Krupićeva and Pavao Gregorijanec, who are considered to be Zagreb’s Romeo and Juliet. On the western facade of the Stone Gate we saw a statue of Dora. Our tour continued to the St. Mark’s Church in front of which, Ms. Jasmina told us a story about the other famous Šenoa’s novel – ‘Seljačka buna’ and the main character Matija Gubec, the leader of the Peasant Revolt. We also visited the City Hall, that used to be home to the first theatre in Zagreb where the first Croatian opera ‘Ljubav i zloba’ by Vatroslav Lisinski was performed. We ended the tour with an ice cream treat.

The tour was very interesting and educating because our tour guide as the heir of Šenoa was very knowledgeable and we learned, through a series of interesting stories, not only about the life, work and writings of August Šenoa, but also about his family, about how he affected today’s life and the history of Zagreb, and a bit about other writers such as Marija Jurić Zagorka.

Leda (MYP1)