In 1971. Croatian sculptor Ivan Kožarić created the sculpture Grounded Sun. The big golden sphere was moved later in 1991 to its current location in Bogovićeva street in the Zagreb city center. But this is only where our story starts, as this simple, spherical sculpture was the inspiration for a new generation of sculptors and artists to come.
In 2004, artist Davor Preis placed 8 additional models of planets of the Solar System around Zagreb, to complete a model of the entire solar system. This was two years before Pluto was downgraded to a dwarf planet. Each planet model was scaled in proportion to Ivan Kožarić’s original work Grounded sun. The distance was also added to the count placing planets around the city center but also to the outskirts of the city so that distance between them would be in proportion to the original Sun by Kožarić.
It’s one of the hidden gems of Zagreb that even today, many of its citizens don’t know about. Some plaques with metal spheres representing planets are so small that you really need to know where to look for them. When I found out about it, I made a list and took my bike to visit all of them. 
I made my list “Nine View - Grounded Solar System Zagreb” public and added more information about the installation and where to find each of the planets hoping that more people will find out about this cool project that is standing on the shoulders of a renowned Croatian sculptor. Ivan Kožarić died last year. He was 100 years old when he passed away. But his sculptures are here to stay as they are part of our city’s culture by now.
If you find yourself passing through Zagreb, make sure to search for at least one of the planets. The Sun should be your starting point as you can’t miss it since it’s huge and the one original sculpture. But there are 3 more planets nearby. Good luck finding them 
