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The Wooden Architectural
Treasures of Turopolje
Turopolje region in Croatia, where wooden architectural gems - churches,
houses, town halls - stand waiting to be admired at seemingly every turn, and
often in the most unexpected places.
What’s so special about this architecture?
Though the style changes depending on whether you’re in the North or
South Carpathians, in Kyiv or Murmansk, the uniting factor is wood.
These are buildings that have survived despite the fact that they are built
entirely out of timber; in some cases, not even allowing themselves the
luxury of the odd nail or two. And we’re not talking sheds here.What
mischievous sprite dwelt within those dark and brooding souls that
compelled them to build these monuments out of wood?
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Well… between the Black Forest and the eastern seaboard of Siberia there
are quite a lot of trees. Since Cro-Magnon Man first knocked up a shelter, it
has been common practice to build homes out of the material most easily
available locally. (Unless you were a Roman Emperor or David Beckham or
something).
Building stuff out of wood is hardly novel. Just ask a Mountie or a gardener
in Wimbledon. But the wooden folk architecture of eastern Europe can be
stunning. Ranging from charming little chapels to awe-inspiring multi-
onion-domed edifices, from simple and colourful peasant dwellings to
aristocratic residences, each one is unique.
The good news is you don’t have to travel to Archangelsk to see this. It’s on
your doorstep.
You know Zagreb Airport? Just before Velika Gorica? Good. The first stop on
our tour of the traditional wooden architecture of Turopolje region is
there.
Standing curiously isolated in the middle of a field by the village of Pleso,
within sight of the air traffic control tower and some 1970s apartment
blocks, is the minute wooden Chapel of the Wounded Jesus(Kapelica
Ranjenog Isusa). This is still a working chapel, and mass can be heard there
on Sunday mornings – quite a special experience.
We know this all sounds unlikely, but this is not an April fool. Next time you
go to the airport, just take a look to your right as you leave the highway.
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The carving and painting on the portal is very attractive,well worth
stopping to take a look. The reason we mention this chapel first is because
of its location next to a Zagreb landmark. But there is an even more
rewarding experience awaiting you just before the airport, inVelika Mlaka.
The Chapel of St Barbara there is known as the Turopoljska Ljepotica, or
“Turopolje Beauty”. You can hardly believe you’re just a stone’s throw from
the Zagreb city boundary. When we arrived, not only were we greeted by
the sight of the delightful little chapel flanked by other wooden buildings
and a rustic old farm, but a couple also trotted by in a pony and trap. It was
morning, cocks were crowing, and suddenly we were in a different world.
Even though our party included folk born and bred in Zagreb, we were all
surprised not only how different the atmosphere was in this corner of a
dormitory of Zagreb, but also at how attractive the chapel was. Built from
dark wood, its charm lies in the combination of simplicity and touches of
decorative folk carving. The shape of the chapel is really unusual, with two
steeples. It really is a nice break from the daily grind of city life to poke
around the churchyard, trying to peek through the windows, surrounded by
trees, morning sunshine and birdsong.
What you may not know about the nearby town of Velika Gorica is that it’s
the administrative centre of a region called Turopolje, bordered in the
north by the River Sava, and to the south and east by the upland region
of Vukomeričke gorice and the River Kupa.
Turopolje’s water table is rich, and provides an ideal habitat for oak trees.
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The quality of Turopolje oak is renowned, and so has become intertwined
with the heritage of daily life there.
Turopolje is also famous for its “peasant nobles”, a politically privileged
community represented for generations in the Croatian Sabor(Parliament).
The Turopolje nobles tended to be rather conservative and, you may be
interested to know, physically fought with the supporters of Ljudevit Gaj’s
National Party at county elections in 1845, who called for Slavs to unite and
demand greater freedom for the from the Hungarian rulers at the time.
Turopolje is still scattered with relics from the heyday of these families. The
wooden chapels have been supported for generations by them, and they
also built characteristic wooden mansions, called kurija. Some of these still
survive today.
From Velika Mlaka, cross the highway, and you’re in the village of Donja
Lomnica. Here is the best-preserved of the kurija, Modić-Bedeković.
Having been much impressed by what we had seen at Pleso and Velika
Mlaka, we were wondering why Turopolje wooden architecture is not much
more well known. We were looking forward to seeing the Modić-
Bedeković house, since it sounded so special in the little information we
had managed to find about it.
Donja Lomnica is a quiet little village with an attractive church, but the first
two people we asked had never heard about the kurija. And when we finally
found it, it was not quite as we had imagined. A large-ish house stands in a
patch of once fine but now unremarkable garden, surrounded by a chicken
wire fence. A neighbour (who turned out to be the house’s caretaker) was
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happy to show us around. Apparently, the owners don’t live there, using the
place only from time to time in the summer. While they are away, the upper
storeys are kept locked - a pity, since apparently they are quite grand.
But to peep inside the ground floor is a lovely experience. One could
imagine estate agents convulsing over “character” and “potential” – there
are thick oak beams and stone floors. In the entrance room, a simple four-
wheeled carriage gathers dust in the corner, sharing space with our host’s
dinner table and a washing line. Just to the left, huge oak barrels are room-
mates with an automatic washing machine. In a room to the right, an
original brick stove serves as a podium for a pair of Adidas trainers.
Don’t imagine that it isn’t interesting to take a look. But just don’t expect to
find cases full of exhibits in museum condition. Due to lack of funds or lack
of will (who knows), there is so much that is so worthwhile to see, of which
so little is made at the moment in inland Croatia.
The time will come when tourism away from the coast is developed to its
full potential, and the crowds will come. But for now, hidden corners and a
more personal experience awaits you if you take the time to look. There is
beauty in the details. The only problem is that these treasures are in danger
of being lost forever.
We went in search of more kurija. Beyond Velika Gorica, in the village
ofStaro Čiče, is a house which once was Turopolje’s County Hall. Now, it’s
a rather idyllic, if careworn, family home. We knocked on the door: a
woman holding a baby confirmed it was OK to take photos. All the
neighbouring dogs barked at us including the 101 Red Setters living across
the road.
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Then it was on to neighbouring Vukovina to see the Alapić family kurija.
This is indeed a curiosity.
A long, low building with a deep roof, the house is in a desperate state of
disrepair, allowing you to see clearly rush wattles and wooden boards (and
sometimes brickwork) beneath, as the façade crumbles away. The
dilapidated look is offset by the fact that one of the co-owners, Mladen
Mikulin, a well-known local sculptor, has turned the garden into a sculpture
park. A peek through a window (with a neighbour’s blessing) revealed a
room full of body parts of plaster statues in various states of construction.
Great studio! Mr Mikulin wants to investing in renovation, we hear, but his
hands are tied by ownership issues and it seems impossible to rescue the
building from collapse at the moment.
Moving on, just a short drive south in Buševec, is maybe the corner with
the most atmosphere. Set back just a little from the road, on the right as
you’re driving into the village, is the tiny chapel of the Holy Apostle: a dark
wood chapel with a tower shaped like a mushroom, surrounded by a tiny
churchyard shaded by yew. The chapel is not in the best state of repair, but
the mossy shade and the quiet give a most pleasing air.
Across country towards the village of Cvetković Brdo, you approach the
hills of Vukomeričke gorice, a summer idyll for those with weekend
cottages. We come to the chapel of St Rocco, just outside the centre of the
village. The view makes you want to gulp lungfuls of clean air and start
singing “The Sound of Music”. The chapel is a chubby little affair, with a
(typical Turopolje style) steeple and porch hanging over the front,
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threatening to capsize the church over onto its chin. In contrast to the last
few places, the chapel has been freshly renovated. It looks quite different;
the façade being wooden shingles rather than boards as we have seen up to
now.
Last stop on our tour was the chapel of St Anthony of Padova (again,
recently renovated). Different again: this one a delicate, spindly character,
in two-tone light and dark wood with a lot of decoration, that somehow
reminds one of the Wild West. Two bell ropes hang in front, presumably to
ring to warn of approaching Injuns. We gave one a tinkle – nobody seemed
to mind.
We didn’t have time to call in the chapel of St Katharine in Dubranec, or
to go south to Lukinić Brdo or Lijevi Štefanki, where there are also
wooden chapels. Even further south are more examples of wooden
architecture, in the region Pokupsko. But, driving back, we did have time to
see the Lukavec fortress, which you will pass on the way back to the
highway. It’s been newly renovated, and there is stuff going on. It’s
surrounded by a swamp, like a shallow moat, which sadly isn’t crocodile-
infested.
You’ll have noticed that we didn’t manage to get inside any of these places,
as we went when the churches were closed, and the kurija are not so easy to
get into.
If you do manage to look inside, you will be rewarded by baroque statues,
folk carving, period furniture and art.
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Another way to get a good idea of what lies inside is to visit theTuropolje
Museum in the centre of Velika Gorica. Itself an eighteenth century
Baroque building, and it contains an exhibition of household goods and
textiles giving you a little more idea of the colour of daily life in this region
in times gone by.
