Dolac Market, Zagreb

The Dolac Market located a few yards from Ban Jelacic Square, the main square of Zagreb, is a popular farmer's market. It consists of an open market of stalls on a raised square reached by stairs from a sheltered market below. It is immediately behind Ban Jelacic Square in the oldest part of Zagreb.

The market has been a main trading post since 1930. Farmers sell homemade foods, fruits, and vegetables in the open market. In the covered market below, there is a mixed crowd of butchers and fishmongers vying among elderly ladies selling cheeses and cream, flowers, and lace. Nearby, the renovated fish market, Ribarnica, now sells produce.

Around the square, small bars and luncheonettes offer "gableci," lunches at a discount. A mezzanine has been added in the indoor section of the market. Florists are on the top level, where the Dolac meets Opatinova Park.

Strolling through the market, noshing on cream cheese with paprika and onions with cornbread, meet the kumicas, the women stall managers. A kumica is part trader and part godmother. By the market entrance is a bronze Kumica Barica Statue with a basket on her head. The statue is the work of sculptor Stjepan Gračan.

At the back of the hall are buckets of sauerkraut (finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria). In two bars at each end of the hall, hungry traders dig into cabana goulash after a very busy morning. Next door, sit on the terrace, munching on grilled sardines chased with wine, and watch the Dolac in action.