1,100 Years of the Kingdom of Croatia and the Coronation of King Tomislav

A monumental equestrian statue of King Tomislav, adapted from the original work by sculptor Robert Frangeš Mihanović (1938), which was erected in 1947 in Zagreb on the forecourt of Zagreb Central Station. Running along the inner rim from lower left to right: the commemoration inscription, issuing country, and year "KRALJ TOMISLAV 925. REPUBLIKA HRVATSKA 2025."

In the early 10th century, a power shift of far-reaching significance took place in the Balkans: the Croatian tribes, settled in the region since the 7th century, coalesced into a unified political entity. At the head of this process stood Tomislav, the first known king of Croatia. Around 925, Pope John X recognised him with the royal title in a letter for the first time — an act that sealed the Latin Church's recognition of Croatian territory as an independent realm. Under Tomislav, the Kingdom of Croatia extended into parts of present-day Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Dalmatia; contemporary Byzantine sources report a considerable military and naval capacity. Against the First Bulgarian Empire and the Principality of Serbia, Tomislav asserted Croatian supremacy in the Adriatic hinterland.

Tomislav's legacy remained a lasting influence on Croatian national consciousness — particularly in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when the national movement sought historical figures of identification. In 1938 the sculptor Robert Frangeš Mihanović created an equestrian statue of the king, erected in 1947 on the square in front of Zagreb's main railway station, where it remains one of the most striking monuments in the Croatian capital. On the 1100th anniversary of Tomislav's coronation and the founding of the Kingdom of Croatia, Croatia issued a 2-euro commemorative coin in 2025 recalling this founding moment of the Croatian state.