Museum in Hum - a magical journey into the history of central Istria

If you want to experience the spirit of the past of the smallest city in the world, definitely go to Museum of Hum Aura which was opened in 2022. The moment you step into it, you have truly stepped into history.

museum in hum
Photo: Blanka Kufner

It exudes from every corner in this family house converted into a keeper of ancient times. All that is missing is to put on the clothing that was worn a hundred years ago in order to complete the impression of life from the time of our great-grandparents.

The museum is entered from a street paved with worn stone, which is an excellent introduction to the topic. The house is in its original condition, nothing has been changed, the new owners only slightly removed the paint from the walls. Walking, we hear the creak of wooden floors and stairs, which further enhances the experience.

Make your own cream

Costumed museum promoter Aurora Dankić introduces us to the story of life in Hum several hundred years ago (of course, every detail was thought of, including its repair). Getting to know the history begins with a look at the photo of the last family that lived in the house. Next comes the presentation of the pharmacy in the room where the kitchen used to be.

Photo: Blanka Kufner

The head of the family, Francesco, went to America from where he returned with a nice sum of money and upon his return bought this property. The wealth of the time is reflected in spacious rooms, high walls, a very large kitchen stove for those times, and the special feature is even two toilets located inside the house. Rarely anyone had a toilet in their house at that time, and almost no one had two. Here, one was upstairs and the other was on the ground floor.  

The owners wanted to show how people lived and how everything worked in Hum at the time it was a town. It should be noted that today it is not a town, namely it has only 28 registered inhabitants. In the past, it had a pharmacy, a shop, a school, a post office, a distillery and various trades - everything that was necessary for the life of its inhabitants.

Photo: Museum of Hum Aura

The museum is interactive, so visitors can, for example, make their own hand cream from a total of five different ingredients. The base is lanolin, walnut macerate in sunflower, lavender essential oil, sage hydrolate and glycerin are added. On the table in the pharmacy there is already made XNUMX% natural soap that guests cut themselves. This shows how it used to be sold - it was cut into XNUMX-gram scales and wrapped in paper.

Museum of Hum Aura
Photo: Museum of Hum Aura

In the antique shop, the intoxicating scent of hazelnuts and walnuts wafts through the air. There is also a strong sense of coffee, which you can roast yourself and grind in an old-fashioned grinder. Everything was sold in bulk, and he is happy that this trend is becoming a practice again.

Postcard written in Glagolitic script

The room where the carpentry workshop is located is important for this museum for sentimental reasons. Namely, the grandfather of the museum owner was a carpenter and his tools were collected to be exhibited here. The intentionally left sawdust, which contributes to a stronger experience, gives the feeling that something is still being done and proves that this space is more than a classic museum.

Museum of Hum Aura
Photo: Museum of Hum Aura

In the room that shows the former classroom, we notice benches of different sizes. All children then went to class together, regardless of age, so the desks had to be adapted to their size. Our eyes fall on the unavoidable abacus and school blackboard. Visitors sometimes write something on it - in Glagolitic, the oldest Croatian script.

A bit of history follows. Along with Roč, Hum is the center of Glagolitic culture. In the 9th century, the Byzantine emperor sent the brothers Cyril and Methodius to spread worship among the Moravian Slavs. By translating the script from Latin to Old Slavonic, Ćiril invented the Glagolitic script, which remained permanently in Istria and the coastal regions as a church script, but was also used in administrative affairs and in literature. Glagolitic was present in Hum until the beginning of the last century.

Museum of Hum Aura
Photo: Museum of Hum Aura

The Glagolitic Alley is an exceptional monument and witness to the continuous existence of Glagolitic literacy to the present day. It consists of eleven memorials located in untouched nature along the seven-kilometer long road from Roč to Hum, and ends with a copper gate at the very entrance to Hum.

Photo: Museum of Hum Aura

In the museum it is possible to buy postcards and (certainly preferably in Glagolitic) write a short greeting to dear people. In the room that displays the old post office, there is a box where postcards are inserted and the museum employee sends them every few days from the modern post office - so don't worry, the mail will arrive at the desired address at some point.  

City of Bisca

One of the special features of this property are the original built-in wardrobes. There are even safes in them for storing more valuable things, which is an additional proof of the wealth of the family that lived here. In old houses, such a thing is not common in central Istria. Many are surprised by the sight of them, but it happens that the islanders say that they can also find similar specimens in ancient times.

museum in hum
Photo: Blanka Kufner

On the wall in the corridor is painted a timeline that tells the history of Hum. It may be hard to imagine, but this town is a thousand years old, as old as the foundations of today's museum. The plan of the city never changed, the houses grew in height, but everything remained on the original foundations. It is interesting that there was a castle on the site of today's church built in the 19th century. On the terrace of today's bar, there is a prefect's table, the name of which reveals that it is connected with the election of the prefect, and this tradition is still respected today.

Photo: Blanka Kufner

The last room we toured was the distillery. Here we tasted bisque, a traditional alcoholic drink almost forgotten, but brought back to life thanks to local enthusiasts. It is brandy with mistletoe, the recipe of which originates from this area. In accordance with the idea of ​​an interactive museum, guests can fill a bottle of bisque from the barrel themselves and cork it. Let's note that Hum has recently been known as the City of bisque. Every year in October, the Smotra rakija is held here, where famous producers from all over Istria compete for the best drop.

And finally, a brief interesting fact about the origin of this charming town. According to legend, the smallest city in the world was created when the giants built cities in the Mirna valley and eventually built Hum from the remaining stones. It was mentioned for the first time in 1102, and the city walls protected this place from the frequent incursions of the Venetians and Turks. There are two Glagolitic inscriptions on the western city gate. Every year, the doors are ceremonially opened on Hum City Day, when the new prefect is elected 'on summer day'.

Photos: Museum of Hum Aura and Blanka Kufner

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