Museum of Hum Aura in the World's Smallest Town
The Museum of Hum Aura is located in a medieval building in the smallest town in the world – Hum in Istria. The building played an important role in creating the social, economic, and political life of Grašćaks and Homjans (the citizens of Hum). Among other things, it was a granary - Fontik, but also the City Lodge where important decisions were made. According to the ancient Croatian custom from the 12th and 13th centuries, the county prefect is still elected in the City Lodge on St. George's Day.
Our passion for antiquities, history, and heritage has resulted in the revival of the abandoned house. In 2022, we opened the Museum of Hum Aura. The permanent exhibition of the museum consists of almost 1500 exhibits carefully arranged in 11 thematic units. Each room represents an indispensable segment of the ancestors' life and dominant craft shops in the last 150 years: pharmacy, school, post office, shop, distillery, shoemaker, carpenter, tailor, mill, fresco painting workshop, and a thematic room dedicated to the Glagolitic script. Five rooms are interactive, so in the school, you can write a postcard using Glagolitic letters and send it to your home address from the post office. You can also make your own cream in the pharmacy, as all the necessary ingredients are provided. You can grind coffee beans in an old mill and fill a bottle of brandy with your signed label in an old distillery.
Timeline
The timeline starts with the castle and the first mention of Hum in 1102 and ends with the opening of the Museum of Hum Aura in 2022.
The fortress has been visited by a whole series of conquerors: from the Aquileian Patriarchate and Margraves, Venice, France, Austria, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Yugoslavia, each leaving a mark on the architecture and social life. The city gate, bell tower, parish church and palace, three rows of residential houses, the Governor's table, city lodge, school, Glagolitic Alley were built. Symbolically, the timeline shows 28 icons - the number of inhabitants of the smallest city in the world, Hum.
daughters Lucia and Leona with grandmother Judith
Guided Tour
Our educated staff will take you on a personalized tour through the lives and works of the former inhabitants of Hum. They will introduce you to the customs and crafts of the region.
Old Pharmacy
Located in the former kitchen, it is decorated with one of the most beautiful exhibits - an old stove made in the nearby village of Lupoglav. The pharmacy is full of glass bottles with Latin names, mortars, ceramic pots of all sizes and types, and several scales. A manual centrifuge machine for separating blood plasma and a microscope stand out. There is everything a good pharmacist needed to practice his craft. The room is interactive, so it is possible to make your own cream.
School
In smaller communities, multiple school generations attended classes in the same classroom. The older students sat at the back, in the higher seats, while the younger ones were closer to the teacher. The board here is written in Glagolitic script. It serves as a guide for visitors when writing postcards in the Old Croatian language.
Shop
"The goods are paid in cash, and there are no loans" is emphasized above the old cash register where sales to the people of Hum in Istria once took place. As it was in the past, the shop displays bulk goods: laundry powder, soap, razors, tobacco, sugar, walnuts, apples, eggs... If desired, it is possible to roast and grind coffee beans in an old mill.
Shoemaker's workshop
In the past, several generations wore the same shoes. Therefore, the shoemaker was always busy. In addition to making shoes, he repaired them even more. Small and larger molds, numerous hammers and nails, and iron horseshoes are indispensable exhibits of this museum room.
Carpentry workshop
This room is dedicated to our family: Nono Feručo and Nona Lucieta Ipša. Feručo was a carpenter, but first and foremost, a cooper, so the exhibition space is filled with his tools.
Post office
The postcard written in Glagolitic script should be inserted into the mailbox. This can be done in the old post office, where a series of interesting postal requisites are on display: from old typewriters, maps, telephones, even a small telephone switchboard, numerous newspapers and magazines, seals, stamps, and postmarks, to countless letters and postcards adorned with stamps that are rarely seen today.
Mill
The millstone, sieves and flour bags, bundles of corn, as well as weights and an old scale are all found in the Mill room, which faithfully recreates the process of milling grain and obtaining flour. We calculated that it takes 500 turns of the millstone to produce one kilogram of corn flour!
Tailoring workshop
Or, as we say here in Istria, Sartoria, is filled with old tailoring mannequins, pictures of clothing that could be ordered, needles, threads, buttons, and other tailoring tools. The indispensable Singer sewing machine clatters here, sewing red ribbons onto Istrian costumes. If the dress stripes are red, the woman is taken, and if they are green, the girl is single. These are unwritten rules of dressing in the traditional costumes of Hum's dikajinas (girls) and married women.
Fresco painting workshop
The workshop contains a replica of the valuable fresco of St. Jerome from the 12th century Hum. Here, materials needed for the creation of frescoes unique to the local climate are exhibited: river sand and slaked lime for plaster, as well as natural pigments for painting - red, gray and white Istrian soil, pigments of green vegetation, charcoal and Teran grape.
Room dedicated to Glagolitic script
Hum, the cradle of creativity and the center of Glagolitic script, presents in its museum eight replicas of Glagolitic monuments and fragments. There is also a faithful copy of one of the most valuable Glagolitic manuscripts, the Misal of Prince Novak, as well as a replica of the first Croatian printed book, Misal po zakonu rimskoga dvora, which was prepared for printing in these areas. Part of this collection is also a gold coin with the motif of Hum as the smallest city in the world. The Hum gold coin, the smallest coin in the world, has a diameter of 1.99 millimeters and weighs only 0.05 grams. It is so small that it should be included in the Guinness Book of Records.
Distillery
The journey ends with a toast in an old distillery. From a wooden barrel, visitors can pour their own shot or fill their own bottle of biska, a specific type of brandy from this region, dating back to the time of the Druids and Celts, prepared according to the recipe of the Hum parish priest, Josip Vidal. The distillery portrays the history of viticulture and winemaking, but also the great passion of our ancestors for inheriting this craft. Nevertheless, it all started from the distillery...
Enhance your stay in the smallest town in the world with the smallest menu in the world, served at the county governor's table in the City Lodge or in the interior of the bar, meticulously decorated with antique objects. Of course, Aura products are on offer: 25 types of brandy and liqueurs, as well as 4 types of gin. Complete your range of flavors with unique cocktails, indigenous wines, and Istrian appetizers.
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