The oldest settlement in the urban area of Zagreb was a Roman town of Andautonia, now �?itarjevo, which dates back to the 1st century AD. The first recorded appearance of the name Zagreb is dated to 1094, at which time the city existed as two different city centers: the smaller, eastern Kaptol, inhabited mainly by clergy and housing Zagreb Cathedral, and the larger, western Gradec, inhabited mainly by farmers and merchants. Gradec and Zagreb were united in 1851 by ban Josip Jela?i?, who was credited for this, with the naming the main city square, Ban Jela?i? Square in his honour. During the period of former Yugoslavia, Zagreb remained an important economic centre of the country, and was the second largest city. After the dissolution of Yugoslavia, Zagreb became the capital of Croatia.
Etymology
The name Zagreb appears to have been first recorded in 1134 in a document relating to the establishment of the Zagreb bishopric around 1094, although the origins of the name Zagreb are less clear. The Croatian word "zagrabiti" translates approximately to "to scoop", which forms the basis of some legends. One Croat legend says that a Croat ban (viceroy) was leading his thirsty soldiers across a deserted region. He drove his sabre into the ground in frustration and water poured out, so he ordered his soldiers to dig for water. The idea of digging or unearthing is supported by scientists who suggest that the settlement was established beyond a water-filled hole or graba and that the name derives from this.
According to another old legend, a city ruler was thirsty and ordered a girl named Manda to take water from Lake Mandu�evac (nowadays a fountain in Ban Jela?i? Square), using the sentence: "Zagrabi, Mando!" which means, Scoop it up, Manda!.
Some sources suggest that the name derives from the term 'za breg' or 'beyond the hill'. The hill may well have been the river bank of the River Sava (the modern Croatian word "breg" or "brijeg", meaning
