Municipality of Matulji: Carnival, culture and hiking trails
Accommodation in Municipality of Matulji
Carnival traditions, memorial sites and trails through the protected Lisina landscape give the Municipality of Matulji its varied character. When planning your trip, you can choose different areas of focus: meet the Zvončari and learn about their long tradition, explore the history of the Liburnian Karst, or discover the municipality on hiking and cycling routes. Local architecture and the Jarbola grape variety also tell of the distinctive features of individual places.
Commemoration in Lipa
The Memorijalni centar Lipa pamti is dedicated to the history of the Second World War in the Liburnian Karst. In addition to Lipa, this landscape includes Pasjak, Rupa, Šapjane and Brdce. The present-day centre opened in April 2015 on the site of an older memorial museum that operated in Lipa from 1968 to 1989. If you want to include culture and history in your trip, this offers a distinct thematic focus.
Travel information for visiting the centre is also available: suburban bus line 30 runs from Delta in central Rijeka to Lipa, where the line terminates. From the terminus, a gently uphill path of about 100 metres leads to the Memorijalni centar Lipa pamti. Parking is permitted nearby. The centre is open Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 am to 3 pm, and Thursdays and Saturdays from 12 pm to 7 pm. It is closed on Sundays and public holidays.
Carnival and regional culture
The carnival in Matulji takes place in January and February. Its main event is the Zvončari Festival. The Zvončari are traditional carnival figures whose origins date back more than 500 years. During the Zvončarska Smotra, the groups traditionally parade through Matulji on Shrove Saturday; at the 29th edition, there were 14 Zvončari groups. This tradition offers a cultural counterpoint to days you plan to spend mainly exploring trails and landscapes.
The language of Žejane is another part of the municipality’s cultural identity. The žejånska limba is named after the village of Žejane in the northwestern part of the Municipality of Matulji. About 30 people, mostly middle-aged and older residents, speak it. It is considered a variant of Istro-Romanian, has the ISO-639-3 code RUO, and is included in the Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Croatia.
Trails in Lisina and across the municipality
Matulji has a network of 150 kilometres of cycling and hiking trails, including 10 circular routes. One hiking trail crosses the scenic ridge of Crni vrh, a 1,037-metre peak in the protected Lisina landscape. Its starting point is southwest of the mountain hut on Lisina. The protected martagon lily (Lilium martagon) also grows in this landscape.
The routes differ in length and terrain. The Bike-and-Hike Route 119, “Od Golopusta do sup Šije”, starts in the centre of Vele Mune, is 15 kilometres long and has an elevation gain of 240 metres. Another option is Route 113, “Mune i Žejane”: it starts in Jušići, runs mostly on asphalt and forms a 37.5-kilometre circular route with a total elevation gain of 590 metres. This information can help you compare the described tours by distance and elevation gain while keeping their different starting points in mind.
Route 117 starts in Rukavac, at the car park below Kinkel House. It passes through Gornji Rukavac and the Lisina protected area, then follows the old Žejane–Bukvina–Zvoneća road and continues to the terraces of Zvonejske njivi. Route 114, by contrast, starts in Zvoneća and passes through Sušnji and Zdemer, where there is a memorial plaque and a bench dedicated to the milkmaids, before continuing to Rukavac and Lisina. The indigenous Jarbola grape variety is grown in Zvoneća, which is also home to the Church of Saint Anthony.
Architecture and local flavours
The stony terraces of Zvonejske njivi near Zvoneća are an example of rural architecture. They were created between the 15th and 17th centuries and cover about 60 hectares. In Rukavac is the hamlet of Andrejići, which is listed as a rural ensemble in the Cultural Heritage Register. It includes traditional stone buildings and a small traditional tower structure known as a “tornica”. The entire village of Veli Brgud is also designated as a protected and officially registered rural ensemble.
Local culinary experiences include the oštarije in Matulji, which serve dishes made from recipes passed down through generations. There is also Jarbola, a wine made from an indigenous grape variety that grows exclusively in the Zvoneća area. When choosing a holiday apartment, you can also take your travel interests into account: would you prefer to focus on carnival, commemorative heritage, routes or rural heritage?
Places in the Municipality of Matulji
Other places to choose from within the Municipality of Matulji include Jurdani, Matulji, Veli Brgud, Rupa, Mihotići, Rukavac, Šapjane, Brešca, Male Mune, Zvoneće, Mučići, Jušići, Pasjak and Zaluki.
For the broader travel overview: Kvarner Gulf.
