The Municipality of Kumrovec lies on the left bank of the Sutla, which also forms the border with Slovenia. The focus of a visit is the Staro Selo Museum in Kumrovec: this ethnographic open-air museum comprises around 40 restored buildings of traditional design. Here, you encounter not only individual exhibits, but also historic buildings as part of the museum’s subject matter.
The open-air museum as a glimpse into everyday life
Staro Selo conveys the traditional way of life in Hrvatsko Zagorje in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The restored birthplace of Josip Broz Tito houses an ethnographic and historical exhibition. In the Old School, the former classroom and teachers’ apartment have been reconstructed. The exhibition and recreated schoolrooms have different focuses: ethnographic and historical topics are at the heart of the birthplace, while the former everyday life of the school is highlighted in the Old School.
The museum offers interactive events and workshops led by ethnologists together with master craftspeople from traditional trades. During demonstrations, visitors can watch potters shape vessels on a foot-powered potter’s wheel and see how traditional wooden toys, pipes and gingerbread hearts are made. This brings the making of each object to life, as well as the finished item. Presentations and demonstrations of traditional crafts take place from 1 April to 30 October. The demonstrations are seasonal and organised with advance notice; individual programmes may vary. Check the dates before your visit.
An audio guide is available in Croatian, Slovenian, English and German to help you find your way around the museum. A public parking garage is located close to the museum. These two practical details complement the museum’s subject matter: you can accompany your visit with an audio guide in one of four languages, and the parking garage is right by the museum.
Places of remembrance and landscape
At the entrance to the Municipality of Kumrovec, beside the Klanjec–Kumrovec road in the protected significant landscape area of Zelenjak, stands the monument to the Croatian national anthem, “Lijepa naša”. The Brotherhood of the Croatian Dragon (Braća Hrvatskog Zmaja) erected it to honour its author, Antun Mihanović, on the anthem’s 100th anniversary. The 13.2-metre-high monument was unveiled on 24 November 1935. A commemorative plaque bears the anthem’s opening verses, and the monument also features a relief of Antun Mihanović. The dedication, anthem and author are thus linked in the monument’s described details.
The significant landscape area of Zelenjak includes Cesarska Gora, Risvička Gora and the Sutla. The river is part of the Natura 2000 network and is important for the protection of endangered fish and shellfish species. The Zelenjak canopy walkway offers another view of nature and design: its features include a birdwatching platform shaped like a bird’s nest and swings. At the start of the walkway, there is a lifting platform for people with reduced mobility and people with disabilities. Texts on the information boards are also available in Braille for blind and visually impaired visitors.
The chapels also offer their own historical reference points. The Chapel of Majke Božje Risvičke was first mentioned in 1639; only the statue of the Virgin Mary survives from its original furnishings. The Chapel of Svetog Roka on the hill of Kumrovec was first mentioned in 1686. The two dates can be read side by side; at Majke Božje Risvičke, the surviving statue adds a specific detail about the furnishings to the date of its first mention.
Discover more destinations: Kumrovec, Municipality of Novi Golubovec, Municipality of Krapina, Municipality of Oroslavje, Municipality of Stubičke Toplice, Municipality of Tuhelj, Municipality of Zagorska Sela, Municipality of Zlatar.
For the regional travel overview: Krapinsko-Zagorska.
