From solar trees to the centre of the world, two more attractions on the main square of Croatia’s most unusual town in Ludbreg.
It is surely one of Croatia’s most unusual – perhaps the most unusual – towns. In an age of economic crisis, the small northern town of Ludbreg is booming, as recently reported by TCN.
It is a town which has its own Vatican-approved miracle, something which is commemorated each year, with some 150,000 pilgrims taking part in this year’s celebrations last week.
And it also has a rather unusual claim to fame – claiming to be the very centre of the world, which is the reason for one of two new attractions on its pretty main square earlier this month.
Visitors can now have their photograph taken with in a specially constructed ‘Greeting from the centre of the world’ replica of the circlular monument at the end of the square, which is claimed as the very centre.
The centre of the world. Significant cities are located equidistant from Ludbreg, and if you cast circles from the main square, you will find some remarkable coincidences – or are they… – Vienna and Budapest, two great seats of power historically, some 225km from Ludbreg, Athens and Paris 1100, and so on.
This legend, believed by many in Ludbreg since antiquity, was confirmed by Dr. Erasmus Weddingen, a Swiss, a frequent visitor to the Restoration centre and a Ludbreg enthusiast, by pure chance. He was playing with a chart divider and a map, and taking Ludbreg as the centre, he made circles on it, noticing that on this imagined line there really were major cities located, not only in Croatia, but wider. The closest proof of this legend are the cities closest to us: Varaždin, Koprivnica, Čakovec and Varaždinske Toplice, located 20 km from Ludbreg.
Centre of the World Day is celebrated on April 1 each year, when the fountain next to the centre of the world flows with wine, in commemoration of the legend and the lady from which Ludbreg takes its name. Ludberga, the beautiful 16 year-old daughter of an estate manager, was seduced by Satan in the form of a knight, and they had a son, Theobold. She took care of her son, looked after the sick and worked as a maid, until Satan trid to seduce her again, this time in the form of a hermit. She escaped to the house of a winemaker and started to make wine, and her wine made it all the way to the table of the Pope. She aged beautifully and Satan came a third time, this time as a rich lord, trying to buy her vineyard. She wrestled Satan to the ground with a wooden cross, and the Earth exploded on the other side of the world, which is how the volcanic island of Antipodes came to be. Myth or reality? Does it matter – April 1 is a GREAT time to visit.
Varazdin County Tourist Board director Elizabeta Dolenec and Ludbreg Tourist Board director standing in the centre of the world, with plaques of all the equadistant towns scattered around them.
While the centre of the world is at one end of the square, the new greeting is at the opposite end, close to another rather unusual object (see main photo, above), a solar tree, part of the environmental offer from a local company. The tree offers recharging options for phones and computers while resting in the flower-laden square.
And just metres from the centre of the world, a second new attraction appeared recently, commemorating what some say is Ludbreg’s second miracle – the gold-medal javelin thrown of local girl Sara Kolak, whose 66.18 metre throw took Olympic gold in Rio. Kolak became an overnight national heroine, and her homecoming to Ludbreg was one big party, and her amazing achievement is now commemorated with a small monument to her phenomenal achievement.
66.18 – the number of metres required for Olympic victory by a young girl from Ludbreg.
Ludbreg really is the most unusual fascinating town in Croatia. Find out more reasons why here.
