The lamplighters of the Upper Town

About The lamplighters of the Upper Town

By the ULTIMATE Zagreb Editorial Team

In an age of LED, Zagreb’s Upper Town keeps an old ritual alive: as dusk falls, lamplighters walk the lanes of Gradec and light the gas lamps one by one, and before dawn they come back to put them out.

Light by hand

Gas lighting came to Zagreb in the 19th century, when lamps were lit across the city every night. Most cities replaced them with electric light long ago, but in the Upper Town, the old Gradec, Zagreb kept them. More than two hundred gas lamps still line its lanes and squares, and they are lit and put out by hand.

The lamplighters

At dusk, the lamplighters, the nažigači, set out with long poles, reaching up to each lamp in turn. It takes them a while to make the round of St Mark’s Square, the Stone Gate, Strossmayer Promenade and the quiet streets in between, and before dawn they make the round again to put the lamps out. Watching one at work is one of the gentlest sights in the city.

Zagreb never switched off its gas lamps: in the Upper Town, they are still lit by hand.

A soft, warm light

The light is softer and warmer than electric light, and on a winter evening, when the Upper Town empties of day visitors, it turns the lanes golden and gives the old palaces a theatrical glow. Around Christmas, the lamplighters are part of the city’s Advent celebrations.

Other Upper Town rituals

Gradec has more rituals worth catching. At noon every day, a cannon fires from Lotrščak Tower, a tradition kept since 1877. At the Stone Gate, candles burn in front of a painting of the Virgin that survived a great fire in 1731. And in the warmer months, the Cravat Regiment in their red cravats parade through the streets on weekends.

Our advice: walk up to the Upper Town about half an hour before sunset, watch the lamps come on along Strossmayer Promenade as the Lower Town lights up below, then wander the lanes in the lamplight before dinner on Tkalčićeva.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with The lamplighters of the Upper Town before you go.