If the path takes you to Eastern Croatia, turn to the lovely town of Valpovo. The town’s biggest attraction is the Prandau-Normann castle with its park. The history of the castle starts somewhere in the 15th century. Visitors, however, get to experience a little time-travel journey that begins in the 19th century at the entrance to the park and finishes among the 15th century remainders.
Just a few days before the end of 2020, internet was full of memes with Godzilla rising and words such as “Get ready for 2020 finale”.
In Croatia, the finale happened in the worst possible form. On 29 December, a big earthquake of 6.2 magnitude happened near the towns of Glina, Petrinja and Sisak. The earthquake was so strong, it was felt all over the country and reports about the earthquake came from 10 other countries. This was the strongest earthquake in Croatia since it has been possible to monitor earthquakes with instruments.
It’s always a good idea to visit the birthplace of Croatian naive art, but last weekend in August makes it absolutely perfect. That’s when an immersive event called Walk Through Hlebine takes place. This August, the village was as colourful and friendly as can be.
Yes, a village. The most famous Croatian art movement comes from a village, where a group of authors started an art movement, world-known as Hlebine School, famous for the difficult technique of painting with oil on glass.
Gallery Josip Generalić in Hlebine – Marijana Generalić explaining how the painting is created.
If you don’t know much about art techniques, you’ve probably gone through the previous sentence without thinking about it much. If you’ve ever seen the photos of naive art somewhere in the brochures, you might even feel a certain repulsion towards the painted characters. When I was a kid, I was literally afraid of them. They were staring at me from the walls, with their big bare feet like Hobbits, always chopping the woods or working in fields – there is always an intimidating tool in their hands, someone with a scary wrinkled face and a hat that’s too small is binge-drinking straight from a huge jug and there’s a tiny forest in the back with no leaves because it’s winter, but it looks like it burned in flames… I was terrified of those paintings, to tell you the truth.
⭐⭐ If you haven’t seen a cemetery yet, you’ll like it. ⭐⭐
One of the most important Zagreb landmarks, definitely the most impressive architectural sight, the eternal home to so many great Croatian historical personalities, a place that reflects the interculturality of the 19th century Zagreb, and the strong link of Croats with their deceased ones…. is just a cemetery, according to several reviewers eager to save the other travellers from making the same detour from the narrow city center.
Find this story on Episode 03 of Croatia Underrated podcast
If you find yourself anywhere in Croatia at the very beginning of November, my best advice is: visit a cemetery.
As we get to know each other through future posts, you will realise that I love mysterious tales and places. But that’s not a reason for this strange recommendation. The first day of November is the All Saints’ Day. Traditionally, the majority of people visits graves of their loved ones to leave flowers and candles. The sight is absolutely magical by the evening when candle lights take over the darkness.
