A well known Zagreb phrase says that "the only thing lovelier than Zagreb itself are its women", giving a lovely compliment to both the city and its female citizens. However, it is worthwhile adding that the women of Zagreb are - older than Zagreb!

Or at least one of them is. One legend says that the name of the city originated like this: an old city ruler, tired and thirsty, ordered the young girl Manda to bring water from the source. The ruler said "Mando, dear, zagrabi!" (zagrabi - scoop it). And hence the name of Zagreb and the name of the well Manduševac...

Unverified and unreliable, like most legends, but in any case sweet and significant, like some type of pre-answer to the eternal question: why are the women of Zagreb so charming and lovely? Well, likely because the first of them, the one that according to the legend was there when the city received its name, was just that. Namely, she must have been, for the ruler to so nicely and tenderly call her, "Manda, dear, scoop it..."

And even today, they say that the loveliest things in Zagreb are the old town and young women. This is no longer a matter of aesthetics, as this saying has set the coordinates from which to observe Zagreb: old and young, where old and young are intertwined at every step...

Zvonimir Milčec