Museum of Croatian Culture in Slovakia

The exhibition of the SNM Museum of Croatian Culture in Slovakia focuses primarily on the presentation of the tangible and cultural heritage of the Croatian minority in Slovakia. It concentrates mainly on the following areas:

Croatian Settlement
When, in the 16th century, the paths of Croats led from their original Balkan homeland to the territory of western Slovakia, they brought with them their language, faith, customs, and both spiritual and material culture. The settlement of Croats in the Middle Danube region began in the early decades of the 16th century and was directly influenced by the Ottoman Empire's military campaigns in the Balkans.

Ethnic Consciousness and Language
Contacts with Croats from the old homeland were important for the revival and preservation of the historical and ethnic consciousness of Slovak Croats. These included Croatian priests, monks, and superiors of the Pauline order in Marianka, as well as Croatian students and teachers at the University of Trnava in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Folk Architecture and Housing
Croatian settlers in the Záhorie region and in the area below the Little Carpathians built their homes from wood, which was abundant in the area. In the 16th and 17th centuries, log construction of wooden buildings was typical for this region. In the 17th century, clay houses began to be built, and, on rare occasions, stone buildings appeared. Roofs were thatched with straw.

Clothing and Textile Culture
The traditional clothing in villages with Croatian settlements belongs to the clothing regions of the Trnava area (Šenkvice), the clothing of the wine-growing villages east of Bratislava (Chorvátsky Grob), the clothing of the area between the Morava River and the Little Carpathians (Devínska Nová Ves, Dúbravka, Lamač), the clothing around Skalica (Mokrý Háj), and the clothing of the settlements along the Danube (Jarovce, Čunovo). Members of the Croatian nobility in Slovakia dressed in the so-called Hungarian style.

Folk Art
The folk artistic expression in the region of western Slovakia, where Croatian colonists settled, manifested itself in architecture through wall paintings and wood carving, in the interior through painted and carved furniture, in the decoration of household utensils and agricultural tools, on gravestones, in the decoration of ceremonial clothing, and in domestic textiles.

Family Customs
Among the most significant milestones in a person's life are those related to birth, marriage, and death. The customary practices and rituals associated with these events have maintained their ethnic distinctiveness in areas where the Croatian dialect is still spoken today.