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Capital of an independent state since 1991, ZAGREB has served as the cultural and political focus of the nation since the Middle Ages. The city grew out of two medieval communities, Kaptol , to the east, and Gradec , to the west, each sited on a hill and divided by a river long since dried up but nowadays marked by a street known as Tkalciceva. Kaptol (meaning "Cathedral Chapter") was a religious centre and the seat of an archbishop; Gradec was ruled by a group of Croatian nobles. The two communities became bitter rivals, and remained so until the sixteenth century, when the threat of Turkish invasion caused them to unite against the common enemy; they took the name Zagreb, which means, literally, "behind the hill". Zagreb grew rapidly in the nineteenth century, and the majority of its buildings are relatively well-preserved, grand, peach-coloured monuments to the self-esteem of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Nowadays, with a population topping one million, Zagreb is the boisterous capital of a newly self-confident nation. A handful of good museums and a vibrant nightlife ensure that a few days here will be well spent.
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