Municipality of Kumrovec

• The Staro Selo Museum in Kumrovec comprises around 40 restored traditional buildings.
• The municipality lies on the left bank of the Sutla, which also forms the border with Slovenia.
• The significant Zelenjak landscape area includes Cesarska Gora, Risvička Gora, and the Sutla.
• There is a public car park in the immediate vicinity of the museum.

For the town of Kumrovec, see Information about Kumrovec. To compare other municipalities at the same higher administrative level, see also the pages for Municipality of Zagorska Sela, Municipality of Desinić, Municipality of Marija Bistrica, Municipality of Hum na Sutli, Municipality of Novi Golubovec, Municipality of Zlatar, and Municipality of Đurmanec.

Staro Selo presents the traditional way of life in Hrvatsko Zagorje in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The open-air museum consists of around 40 restored traditional buildings; this approximate figure gives an impression of the size of the complex without presenting it as an exact inventory count. If you are interested in everyday history and traditional architectural styles, you can include the museum’s varied insights in your travel plans.

The restored birthplace of Josip Broz Tito houses an ethnographic and historical exhibition. The Old School offers a different perspective, with a reconstructed former classroom and teacher’s apartment. Together, these exhibition venues show different aspects of historical life—from living and learning to the topics explored in the exhibition at the birthplace. An audio guide is available in Croatian, Slovenian, English, and German.

At the museum, you can watch potters shape vessels on a foot-powered potter’s wheel. The production of traditional wooden toys, pipes, and gingerbread hearts is also demonstrated. This places practical craft techniques alongside the historic buildings and exhibitions.

Interactive events and workshops are led by ethnologists together with masters of traditional crafts. Presentations and demonstrations of traditional crafts take place at the museum from April 1 to October 30. If you would like to plan your stay especially around these demonstrations, take this period into account when planning your trip.

The significant Zelenjak landscape area includes Cesarska Gora and Risvička Gora, as well as the Sutla River. The river is part of the Natura 2000 network and is important for the protection of endangered fish and mussel species. Alongside the museum’s cultural focus, the landscape offers another point of interest, with its protection also linked to the diversity of species found in the river.

The Zelenjak treetop walkway includes a birdwatching platform shaped like a bird’s nest and swings. At the beginning of the walkway, there is a lifting platform for people with reduced mobility and people with disabilities. The information boards also provide texts in Braille for blind and visually impaired visitors. These specific amenities apply to the beginning of the walkway or to the information boards; they do not describe every section or facility in general.

At the entrance to the Municipality of Kumrovec, on the Klanjec–Kumrovec road, stands the monument to the Croatian national anthem “Lijepa naša,” in the protected significant landscape area of Zelenjak. The Brotherhood of the Croatian Dragon (Braća Hrvatskog Zmaja) erected it in honor of its author, Antun Mihanović, to mark the anthem’s 100th anniversary. The monument is 13.2 meters high and was unveiled on November 24, 1935. A commemorative plaque bears the anthem’s opening verses, and the monument also features a relief of Mihanović.

Two chapels are also among the municipality’s historic landmarks. The Chapel of Our Lady of Risvička was first mentioned in 1639. The only surviving item from its original furnishings is the statue of the Virgin Mary. The Chapel of St. Roch, on the hill in Kumrovec, was first mentioned in 1686. These dates indicate the first recorded mention of each chapel and can be clearly distinguished from the information about the monument’s construction and unveiling.

What is the Staro Selo Museum?

Staro Selo is an ethnographic open-air museum in Kumrovec with around 40 restored traditional buildings. It presents the traditional way of life in Hrvatsko Zagorje in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

When are craft presentations held at the museum?

Presentations and demonstrations of traditional crafts are held from April 1 to October 30.

What assistance is available at the Zelenjak treetop walkway?

At the beginning of the walkway, there is a lifting platform for people with reduced mobility and people with disabilities. The information boards include texts in Braille for blind and visually impaired visitors.

For the higher-level travel overview: Krapina-Zagorje.