Bjelovar

Roads leading to and from Zagreb, Osijek, Varaždin, Koprivnica, Čazma, Ivanić Grad, Daruvar, Virovitica, Pakrac and Lipik all come together in Bjelovar, the crossroads of these paths. A city of rivers and streams, cheese and Baroque atmosphere. A city of fairs, shops, kings and natural beauties of Bilogora highlands.
Bjelovar was built in 1756 by the order of the Empress Maria Theresa. The city was built according to an urbanistic plan: the centre has a rectangular shape making Bjelovar a truly unique Croatian city. Unfortunately its builder never visited the city that was awarded the title of a free royal city in the second half of the 19th century, thus becoming the youngest of the twelve Croatian royal cities.
Its citizens are aware of the significance of cultural heritage and the appearance for their city; Bjelovar carries the title of the third most beautiful city in the continental part of Croatia, and its main Square of Eugen Kvaternik has been elected the most beautiful square for the second year in a row! This is how Josip Mencin described the centre of Bjelovar in Croatian Encyclopaedia in 1887: “The city was built regularly; the streets are covered with bricks. It has two squares; the one facing north is for the cattle and the one facing south is the main square. This is the most beautiful part of the city because the square had been turned into a park and is surrounded by beautiful two-storey buildings mostly of the military treasury and the land of the former military border.”
The first known writing about Bjelovar dates back to 1413, but the oldest artefacts found in the area date as far back as from the Roman era. At the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century the area was densely inhabited with aristocratic and church properties. However, during the Turk invasion in the 15th and the 16th century this area became „no man's land“ switching land-owners continuously. At the end of the 16th century Croatian army finally managed to stop the invading Turks and Bjelovar became an important stronghold.
Bjelovar has moved its development focus from the military one to agriculture, cattle raising and commerce. Several annual fairs of international importance encouraged expansion of trading chains so Bjelovar now carries not only the title of the „fair city“ but also the „trading city“. However, despite Bjelovar's economic growth, you can still easily taste its authentic local products. All you need to do is take a look at the city market full of homemade smells and tastes, or head to one of the nearby fish ponds or maybe even try out the local tradition of big game hunting.
Bjelovar is a city of moderate climate. The winters int his area are moderately cold; the most common wind is the north wind. In January the average temperature is -0,4° C so don’t forget warm boots when you come to IPEW!

Important phone numbers:

Monitoring and information centre 043 985
Police 043 92
Fire department 043 93

General hospital 043 279 130
Emergency 043 94

Taxi service 043 970
Train station 043 241 263
Bus station 060 30 40 80
HAK 043 987

City of Bjelovar Tourist Board 043 243 944
Bjelovar-Bilogora County Tourist Board 043 243 944

City of Bjelovar 043 244 922
Bjelovar-Bilogora County 043 221 900