Вараждин: Хорватияның барокко қаласы

City in Varaždin County, Croatia

Varaždin ( or ; Varasd, also known by alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, music, textile, food and IT industry.

In Hungarian the town is known as Varasd, in Latin as Varasdinum and in German as Warasdin. The name Varaždin traces its origin to varoš, a Hungarian loanword from város, meaning city.

At the end of the 14th century, Varaždin fortress passed to the hands of the Counts of Celje. Over the following centuries Varaždin had several owners, the most influential being Beatrice Frankopan (1480–1510), wife of Margrave Georg of Brandenburg Ansbach, who built the town hall; her successor was Baron Ivan Ungnad (1493–1564), who reinforced the existing fortification. At the end of the 16th century Count Thomas Erdődy became its owner, assuming the hereditary position of Varaždin prefects (župan), and the fortress remained in the ownership of the Erdődy family until 1925.

Varaždin represents the best preserved and richest urban complex in continental Croatia. It aims for a Unesco listing as a World Heritage Site. The Old and Contemporary Masters Gallery is located in the Sermage Palace, built in the rococo style in 1750. In 1523, Margrave Georg of Brandenburg built the town hall in late baroque style, with the Varaždin coat of arms at the foot of the tower, and it has continued in its function until the present day. There is a guard changing ceremony every Saturday. Varaždin's Cathedral, a former Jesuit church, was built in 1647, and is distinguished by its baroque entrance, eighteenth century altar, and paintings. There are many baroque and rococo palaces and houses in the town. Worth particular mention is Varaždin's Croatian National Theatre, built in 1873 and designed by the Viennese architects Herman Helmer and Ferdinand Fellner. A baroque music festival has been held annually in Varaždin since 1971, and attracts some of the finest musicians and their fans from Croatia and the world. Recommended to visitors is also the historical street festival Špancir fest every August. The city features its old city guard, named Purgari, in various city ceremonies as well as the weekly ceremony of the 'change of the guards' in front of the city hall. Additionally, Varaždin police officers patrol on bicycles in the warmer months.

The Old Town keep is one of the biggest monuments in the city of Varaždin and one of its biggest tourist attractions. It is located in the north western section of the city core. Today the keep houses the Varaždin City Museum. The keep is first mentioned in the 12th century and it is believed to be the center of Varaždin county life. The keep underwent numerous ownership changes and reconstructions over the centuries. The Old Town was featured on the now defunct 5 Kuna bill.

The cemetery dates back to 1773 and it was long time an ordinary place until 1905, when Herman Haller had an idea to make it more park like with large trees and alleys for citizens to stroll through. The reconstruction of the cemetery was done between 1905 and 1947, and its current landscape and architecture dates from these works, It is now a protected cultural and natural park.

THE OLD TOWN (STARI GRAD) Museum houses the Cultural and Historic Collection. The Old Town Museum has been a part of the Varaždin City Museum organization since 1925. Today is features: over 400 pieces from the glass, ceramics and clocks collection, 10 rooms furnished in chronological period style (renaissance, baroque, rococo, Empire, Biedermeier, historicism and art deco), a chapel and sacristy, and 2 rooms dedicated to two prominent men from Varaždin, Vatroslav Jagić and Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski. THE HERZER PALACE houses the Entomological Collection focusing on The World of Insects. There are over 4500 exhibits which clearly show the biology of bugs through several topics:In the forest, Near the forest and on the meadow, In the water and near the water, At night and underground. THE SERMAGE PALACE houses the Gallery of Old and Contemporary Masters Art Gallery. It is home to over 5300 works of art separated in 10 collections with works ranging from the 15th to the 20th century.

The total area is (2001). The urban city settlement is
The centre of Varaždin County is located near the Drava River, at .

Varaždin has a warm summer humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) bordering on a maritime climate (Cfb).

Varaždin is one of the few Croatian cities whose industry did not directly suffer from the war in 1991. Besides textile giant Varteks (Varaždin Textile), it also has nationally important food (Vindija), metal, and construction industries. The Information Technology and financial and banking sector as are well developed. Further economic development has been encouraged with the creation of a free investment zone.

In October 2023, the state owned energy company, Bukotermal, announced the discovery of an underground lake of superheated water at an average 142 °C (288 °F), with the potential to support a 16MW geothermal power plant near the towns of Lunjkovec and Kutnjak.

Apart from A4 highway that runs between Zagreb and Goričan (Hungarian border), there are three state roads that reach the area of Varaždin: D2, D3 and D35. The town is fully encircled by the Varaždin bypass. Varaždin is also a hub for bus transportation company "AP Varaždin" which offers significant number of county (local), inter county and inter city services, also offering international lines. Varaždin's railway station is one of the largest and most important train stations in northern Croatia. It represents the intersection of three Croatian railway corridors that are used for both passenger and freight traffic it lies on R201 railway (Zaprešić Čakovec) and also represents the terminus for one local line (L201 connecting Golubovec) and one regional line (R202 connecting Dalj via Koprivnica, Virovitica and Osijek). All of the rail corridors that start, end or pass through Varaždin are single tracked and non electrified.

Varaždin has seven elementary schools, 10 high schools (2 public gymnasiums, 2 private gymnasiums, trade schools, and other specialized high schools for various paths). Varaždin 2 faculties (Faculty of Organization and Information Technology and Geotechnical faculty) that are part of the University of Zagreb and the University North.

There are 2 public universities currently operating in the city of Varaždin: Varaždin and Koprivnica took part in establishing the University North, a public national university that operates in both cities since 2015. University of Zagreb is present in the city with 2 displaced faculties from Zagreb itself.