Two Museums in Zagreb

“Most innovative museum” of Europe (2011):  the Museum of Broken Relationships.  Have you been?  Museum_of_broken_relationships_Zagreb

 

 

We didn’t go.  Too sad –– besides, it was closed.

(But you can read about it on another blogger’s site.)

 

We did visit two great museums in Zagreb that we loved––one art, the other history.

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First, the Museum of Naive Art, is a collection of primitive art by common peasants.

 

 

Our favorites were those by Ivan Generalić. self-portrait-1975.jpg!PinterestSmall

He painted on glass, in the reverse order.  His paintings feel almost three-dimensional.

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My new favorite coffee mug has his peacock.

 

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Second museum:  the complicated history of Croatia became a bit more clear in a museum recommended by our local guide––the Grič Tunnel.  Free to the public, it is found in a pedestrian tunnel that served in WWII as a bomb shelter under a central part of the city.  Wikipedia map.  The main corridor currently houses an illustrated history of the country;

 

 

branch tunnels honor special exhibits like 1940s music halls and work of native son Nikola Tesla.

 

One wing illustrates the original use as a shelter with artifacts from the war, but in the main tunnel, the years of WWII in the historical chronology are represented with a bit of adventure: a downpour of rain.  I don’t know how many yards represent the war years, but you can get very wet if there is no umbrella available from the side you enter.

This museum is worth a visit, but to be safe carry an umbrella with you.

Date of travel: October 2017.   Tour:  OAT’s Hidden Gems of the Dalmatian Coast

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