Among the public buildings that were erected in northern Croatia in the second half of the 18th century for the needs of the reorganized state administration, a prominent place belongs to the representative county palace in Križevci.
The palace occupies the east side of the main street of Križevci, the old historical communication that once connected the southern and northern city gates, and with its elegant volume, right where the street slightly bends and opens to view, represents, together with the strong volume of the church of St. Ana and the Pauline monastery on the opposite side of the street, the main spatial backbone of the center of Križevci. The dimensions and position of the county palace clearly show the strong connection between the city and the county administration, which for many centuries gave a special stamp to the social life of Križevci.
At first glance, it is clear that this harmonious one-storey building with unusually elongated facades was not created at once. The unequal distance between the window openings, the different lengths of the side facades and the asymmetry of the courtyard wings clearly show that the complex of the county palace as it is today was formed in several construction phases. The majority of the works, as already mentioned, were carried out in 1779/80, when the palace took its present appearance with a pronounced symmetry of the street facade, dominated by a prominent central projection, and two vertical courtyard wings, which gave the whole a typical Baroque “U” floor plan.
The building as a whole acts more with its mass and dimensions (it is 60 m long and has a total of 21 window axes) than with the architectural details, which were lost during later adaptations, especially on the spacious facades. The county palace in its present form was built gradually in several construction phases from the mid-18th century to the 1930s, in the span of about eighty years. It has already been pointed out that its oldest core is the former Gladki house, which the county bought (1772) from the wife (nee Gladki) of the Križevci deputy mayor Juraj Petričević.
(Source: Institute of Art History, IPU 12-13/1989, Žarko Domljan)
Today the seat of the City Administration.
One of the oldest profane buildings, built next to the former southern city gate, is the so-called Sabornica. It is located on the north side of the city park on Nemčić Square.
It was built in the forms of border baroque, with simple profiles and a massive high roof. The “Sabornica” was also built during several construction phases, and the oldest corner part dates from the 18th century. On the north side there is a modest one-storey building, in the upper part made of wooden construction with fillings. Both buildings belong to the oldest preserved building layer of Križevci.
Today it is the seat of the Art Gallery with regular exhibitions and a permanent holdings.
The largest building in the old town, erected in 1914 according to the projects of the famous architect Stjepan Podhorski. The Croatian Home is the center of a rich social and cultural life. Today, the building houses the Albert Štriga Music School and several halls for events and cultural events in the city.
The oldest preserved civic building in Križevci, with an irregular “U” floor plan. It used to be a Pauline inn, the first public pharmacy in the city, and later a famous inn.
Since 1961, the City Museum has been located here, showing the cultural and historical development of the city and the area, archeological finds, documents, ethnographic objects and valuable works of art in several permanent exhibition rooms. Next to the museum, there is a small ethnopark. Marking the 700th anniversary of the proclamation of Križevci as a free royal city, a native collection was opened in 1952, which later turned into a Museum and ten years later moved into the building of the so-called a Pauline inn, the building in which it is still located today.
Today, the City Museum, with its permanent and occasional exhibitions, as well as various and numerous events in its premises, has become an unavoidable place for every visitor who, passing through the Museum, gets acquainted with the richness of this “city of history, culture and Križevci statutes”.
The last decade of the 19th century was the peak of the Jewish community in Križevci and in that period the number of members ranged between 230 and 245 people. At the solemn assembly of the Jewish community on November 18, 1894, its president Marko Breyer presented an official proposal for the construction of a synagogue, and for the needs of construction, land was purchased south of the then religious community. Financial assistance for the construction of the synagogue was provided by numerous donors, and funding was also provided by the Royal Croatian-Slavonian-Dalmatian Provincial Government, the Križevci City Council, the Share Savings Bank in Križevci and the First Croatian Savings Bank in Zagreb.
The contract with the builders, the company Hönigsberg & Deutsch, was concluded at the end of 1894, the first works began on April 1, 1895, and the cornerstone was laid on May 14, 1895, with the consecration of Rabbi Lavoslav Löw from Križevci. The construction lasted extremely short, only five months, and the new Križevci synagogue was completed and consecrated on September 16, 1895, in the presence of a large number of Križevci residents, as well as representatives of Jewish communities from Zagreb, Bjelovar, Koprivnica, Slavonski Brod, Krapina, Ludbreg. The new place of worship was built in a combination of Neo-Renaissance and Neoclassical style. For the next almost half a century, the synagogue was the center of religious and social life of the prominent Jewish community in Križevci.
As the Jewish religious community in Križevci completely disappeared during the Second World War, the Alliance of Jewish Religious Communities of the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia concluded a purchase agreement in 1949 with the Križevci district for a synagogue and a neighboring “rabbi’s” house with an obligation to arrange a new Jewish cemetery destroyed in the war by the end of the year.
In the first half of the 1950s, the synagogue was remodeled in a socialist-realist style, removing all architectural decorations from the façade, walled up the main entrance, and made a new side entrance. The architecturally devastated synagogue building, now renamed the Youth Home, still remained the center of the city’s cultural and social life. Between 1967 and 1985, the Križevci City Library operated on the ground floor of the synagogue, and since 1971 the Križevci Theater has been operating occasionally. It also houses the Community of Technical Culture and numerous associations. In 1984, the roof and facade were renovated, and during 2014, the synagogue was thoroughly renovated for the needs of the Tourist Information Center.
City cemetery, formed in 1898 behind the existing chapel of St. Roka. Partly arranged as a park, with numerous artistically valuable stone monuments. In 1910, arcades were built under which Jewish dignitaries were buried.
Open city squares where many events and activities are organized throughout the year. At the corner of Nemčić Square, there is a carousel by Marcel Kiepach, connected via dunes to the floor lights of the square, and by turning the carousel, the lights are turning on.
