"Martićeva is a small miracle. It's the second street I, as a relatively new incomer, liked. Right after, at the same time, ugly and pretty, Zvonimirova Street. I'm just a few months short of living in Martićeva for a year. And I must say, it really has that often mentioned "vibe." You're basically living in the center of Zagreb, but you still have your peace and quiet. At the same time, you are isolated, but everything is still within hands reach. You can take your pick. I'm not sure is it a small or a big street, but what I am sure of is that it's filled with all sorts of things. Art in almost all its forms, coffee shops who are everything but usual, vintage stores with the posters of Ante Gotovina in their show-cases and scenes of networking on a terrace over coffee and/or Aperol. Certainly, an interesting street changing itself as you walk from Kvatrić towards the city center. It's just slapping you with its ever-growing content and offer. You never know which city's big shot, intellectual or a man of culture you are going to meet there. 

It's not that I specifically picked Martićeva while I was in the search for an apartment because subtenants simply don't allow such wishes for the majority of people, but, fortunately, just across Booksa, a cute little place awaited for my boyfriend and me to move in. It's in an old building, but it was screaming "Swedish design" so we immediately knew it had to be ours. That's, in short, my reflection on living in Martićeva Street: it's a modern and maybe a bit "hipstery" street with a whiff of tradition and with the sun cheekily inviting you to a cup of coffee at Program. A fairytale!"

Photo Credit: Petra Sedlanić

These are the words my colleague, Petra, used to describe what living in Martićeva street looks like. As someone who's been to Martićeva but never lived there, I can generally agree with her. But also, as a genuine coffee lover, I can say a couple of words about the cool coffee places Martićeva has to offer. 

Photo Credit: Petra Sedlanić

Mr. Fogg

While bearing in mind I just recently discovered it, Mr. Fogg has rapidly become one of my favorite coffee places in Zagreb. The atmosphere there is just phenomenal, and the staff is really nice. When you enter it, it really looks like a fancy place, and you expect really high prices, but surprisingly, that's not the fact. The price of large coffee with hot milk is average, and it's pretty good. When you're visiting in the evening hours, you can choose from a really nice collection of imported drinks, such as Japanese whiskeys and such. Besides all this, you can really tell that the owner really invested not only money but his time and effort into interior design. The name of the bar was inspired by Phileas Fogg, a protagonist of the 1873 Jules Verne novel, Around the World in Eighty Days. All in all, Mr. Fogg is a really cool and inviting bar. 

Photo credit:Ana/booksa

Booksa

Situated just across the street and a couple of steps from Mr. Fogg, Booksa is one of the most known literary clubs in Zagreb. You can become their member for a symbolic fee of 10 kunas. As a member, you can spend your time there browsing and reading books, studying or surfing the web if you bring a laptop along. From time to time, Booksa is organizing a lot of different events such as concerts, book readings, and workshops. A famous Croatian writer and my high school teacher Zoran Ferić is often holding literary workshops, and they're pretty popular. All in all, Booksa is a really unique and quiet place, but it's definitely reflecting the spirit of Martićeva street. In front of it, there's a statue of Fra Grgo Martić. Because of it, Martićeva is one of the rare streets in Zagreb that has statues of the people they've gotten their names by. Another street with such statue is Teslina Street. Grgo Martić was a Bosnian Croat friar and a writer from Herzegovina. He was born in 1905 in Rastovača, a village near Posušje, Eyalet of Bosnia, Ottoman Empire and was educated in Zagreb and Pest.

Photo credit:Ana/booksa

Martićeva has to offer so much more

One of the proofs of this subtitle is also a new bar recently opened in Martićeva, called Program. It's a cool new, small coffee place in Martićeva, opened practically right next door to Booksa. Besides Program, there are a lot more bars and restaurants such as Mojo bar, Slatka Priča patisserie, Vanilla bar, street food place called The Passage +, restaurant Zlatna Školjka, brunch and coffee place called Verde, restaurants Kod Šime and Tomislav grill that are situated right next to Bartol Kašić park, cafe bar Aura and it all ends with one of the most famous places for great Kebab in Zagreb, called Ali Kebaba.

Apart from all this, there are also a lot of small, remarkable details Martićeva Street hides which I will let you, my dear reader, to discover for yourself. I can give you one hint though. It has something to do with art and happiness. My recommendation for exploring Martićeva Street and all it offers definitely stands. 

Photo Credit: Petra Sedlanić

Header Image Credit: Petra Sedlanić

Author: Tibor Trupec