Krapina

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Krapina

Krapina is located in Croatia
Krapina
Krapina (Croatia)
County Krapina-Zagorje
Location 46°10′N 15°52′E / 46.16°N 15.87°E / 46.16; 15.87
Mayor Josip Horvat (HDZ)
Surface (km²) 47.53
Population
(2001)
12,950 (municipality)
Time zone (UTC) UTC+1 Central European Time

Krapina is a town in northern Croatia and the administrative centre of Krapina-Zagorje county with a population of 4,647 (2001) and a total municipality population of 12,950 (2001). Krapina is located in the hilly Zagorje region of Croatia, approximately 55 km away from both Zagreb and Varaždin.

In 1899, on a hill called Hušnjak near modern Krapina, the archaeologist and paleontologist Dragutin Gorjanović-Kramberger found over eight hundred fossil remains belonging to Neanderthals. Moreover, these fossil remains are said to exhibit traces of cannibalism and/or mortuary defleshing. At the site where the Neanderthals were discovered, there is now a park with many statues. These statues include a bear, moose, and a beaver.

Krapina has been known since 1193. It has always been a favourite site for castles and country houses of Croatian and Hungarian rulers.

Today it is a reasonably developed town, boasting its festival kajkavskih popevki sung in the local Kajkavian dialect of the Croatian language.

There is also a nearby municipality of Krapinske Toplice (the spas of Krapina).

Krapina is also the home of Ljudevit Gaj. Ljudevit Gaj was a revolutionary of Krapina, and in 1850 he made a new version of the Croatian grammar. His home is now a museum where visitors can learn about his life and mission.

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Coordinates: 46°10′N 15°53′E / 46.167°N 15.883°E / 46.167; 15.883