Discover the Municipality of Kumrovec

In the Municipality of Kumrovec, the cultural history of Hrvatsko Zagorje meets a landscape shaped by the Sutla. The ethnographic open-air museum Staro Selo is a central attraction for culture enthusiasts: around 40 restored traditional buildings illustrate the way of life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Sutla and the significant Zelenjak protected landscape are also part of the municipality’s character. You can therefore plan your trip around historical insights, nature, or a combination of both.

Everyday life at Staro Selo Museum

The buildings in the open-air museum illustrate different aspects of life in the past. The restored birthplace of Josip Broz Tito houses an ethnographic and historical exhibition. The Old School features a reconstruction of the former classroom and teacher’s apartment. Together, these places offer different insights into the region’s history and everyday life, without limiting you to a single exhibition topic.

An audio guide is available in Croatian, Slovenian, English and German. This can make it easier to navigate the exhibitions in the language that suits you. If you are particularly interested in traditional crafts, demonstrations and presentations take place from 1 April to 30 October. Interactive events and workshops are led by ethnologists together with master craftspeople in traditional trades.

Discover crafts beyond the exhibitions

At Staro Selo Museum, visitors can watch potters shape vessels on a foot-powered pottery wheel. The crafts on display also include making traditional wooden toys, pipes and gingerbread hearts. These demonstrations offer a different focus from the historic rooms: here, the work with materials takes centre stage. If you are travelling with children, you can watch traditional crafts being practised together.

Zelenjak and the Sutla

The Municipality of Kumrovec lies on the left bank of the Sutla, and the river also forms the border with Slovenia. The significant Zelenjak protected landscape includes Cesarska Gora, Risvička Gora and the Sutla. The river is part of the Natura 2000 network and is important for protecting endangered fish and mussel species. If you would like to include nature in your stay as well as the museum, this offers another way to experience the municipality: the focus is on the landscape and the protection of species in the river.

The Zelenjak treetop walkway features 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 limited mobility and people with disabilities. Texts on the information boards are available in Braille for blind and visually impaired visitors. These specific facilities may be relevant when planning your visit; the lifting platform is located at the start of the walkway.

Monuments and traces of the past

At the entrance to the municipality, beside the Klanjec–Kumrovec road, stands the monument to the Croatian national anthem “Lijepa naša” in the protected Zelenjak landscape. The Brotherhood of the Croatian Dragon erected it in honour of 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 a relief depicts Antun Mihanović. Its size, inscription and relief give the site its own historical and cultural significance.

Two chapels also point to the municipality’s older heritage. The Chapel of Our Lady of Risvička was first mentioned in 1639; only the statue of the Virgin Mary remains from its original furnishings. The Chapel of St Roch on Kumrovec Hill was first mentioned in 1686. Those interested in regional history can use these dates as a guide to the area’s long religious history.

Choose a suitable holiday rental as your base

When choosing a holiday rental in the Municipality of Kumrovec, consider which experiences you would like to make the focus of your trip. Staro Selo offers insights into regional everyday life and crafts; Zelenjak combines landscape themes with the treetop walkway. If you would like to experience both, include the museum and nature equally in your plans. To search for the place itself, follow the entry Kumrovec.

Would you also like to view other municipalities at the same level: Municipality of Bedekovčina, Municipality of Đurmanec, Municipality of Pregrada, Municipality of Hum na Sutli, Municipality of Zabok, Municipality of Zlatar, Municipality of Stubičke Toplice.

For the broader travel overview: Krapinsko-Zagorska.