The cultural-historic unit in the centre of the town of Petrinja is its most attractive locality. At the present-day location of the town, the continuity of settlement can be traced back to 1592 when a Turkish fort was built at the very confluence of the Petrinjčica with the Kupa. It was in operation until the beginning of the 18th century, with the beginning of its gradual demolition in 1728.
At that time, the construction of a civilian settlement begins, while the space of the military fort fuses with the surrounding construction. Those are the beginnings of a sudden development of Petrinja as a significant military and administrative centre of Banovina region. Petrinja becomes a part of Banska Krajina in 1753 and the seat of the Second Banska Regiment. Petrinja also develops itself as a significant shopping, crafts, educational and cultural centre of Banska Krajina. Starting with the year 1780 – when the most significant urban planning and architectural interventions in this part of town are made – the square is planned, the one-storey buildings around the square are built, as well as the Baroque parish church of St. Lawrence and its parish house. Under the circumstances in which it is planned and arranged, Petrinja’s main square corresponds to the type of rectangular shape of the squares found in other towns of the military border area Vojna Krajina. At the turn of the 18th to the 19th century, a spacious rectangular square is defined, which remains the main urban accent of the town. Among the buildings bordering the square to the east and south there are recognizable examples of Baroque construction, while along the west side of the square and at the beginning of Nazorova Street there are Classicist forms. During the 19th century begins the construction of Historicist buildings in Nazorova, Turkulinova, Gajeva and Gupčeva Street. In addition to the main square – today Dr. Franjo Tuđman Square – in the historic town core there is also Stjepan Radić Square with a funnelled form, outlined as early as in the mid 18th century. These two squares, and the line of construction that connects them, define the narrowest urban area of the preserved historic core of the town (Matijašević, Cindrić: 2005: 143-148).
This historic core was protected as a cultural monument in 1962 and entered into the Registry of Immovable Cultural Monuments of the Regional Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in Zagreb, and has the qualification of a cultural asset.