Sight
Church of St Nicholas
The parish church with the bear of the old town seal on its tower base.
Back to VaraždinVaraždin
Croatian National Theatre
An 1873 theatre by the Viennese duo Fellner, still playing a full season.
Sight
Photo: Stephen Colebourne / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Why it is worth your time
The Croatian National Theatre in Varazdin opened in 1873 and is one of the oldest theatres in Croatia in continuous operation: the building was designed by the Vienna office of Ferdinand Fellner, the same architect who built theatres across Central Europe, so Varazdin has a hall with horseshoe balconies and acoustics to the same recipe as Vienna, Budapest or Zagreb. The city raised it with its own money, gathered among the citizens, at a time when Varazdin had fewer than ten thousand inhabitants, which says how much the theatre meant here.
Today the HNK has its own drama ensemble and plays a full season, from classics to contemporary titles, and the autumn festival of the Varazdin Baroque Evenings uses the hall for concerts. The building stands by the Jagic Promenade, and tickets are considerably cheaper than in Zagreb. If you are in town off-season, an evening at the HNK is the best way to see how Varazdin lives when there are no tourists.
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