Hrvatski
Traditional Architecture of Hrvatsko Zagorje
The exhibition is devoted to wood and stone as the main materials used in the construction of housing and farm facilities in Zagorje: house – hiža, barn – štala, pigsty – kočok, well – čatrja…
Putting to practice the centuries-old knowledge and experience, carpenters would cut wood beams (planjke) and form a frame, most frequently rectangular, that were laid on stone foundations either following the principle of Croatian corner [hrvaški vugel] (cross-cut hewed oak beams with points extending beyond house corners) or German corner or zinc frame [nemški vugel or cinkani vez] (main beams cut straight at corners), onto which a gable roof structure was built and covered with rye thatch, curved cement tiles, or flat shingle roof tiles. Given the fairly hilly terrain, the farm and housing facilities are built as one-storey facilities, some are built on semi-sloped terrain, some na čelicu (cellar buried under one part of a facility), and some as two-storey facilities (cellar built of stone and first floor of wood beams). Examples of traditional Zagorje architecture from the 1930s are on display at Staro Selo Museum in Kumrovec. The exhibition shows the modes of construction of traditional facilities and the preserved traditional facilities in the vicinity of Kumrovec that are still used for housing purposes.
Exhibition authors: Branka Šprem-Lovrić and Tatjana Brlek
September 2009