Bakar opens hidden catacombs and new heritage centre to visitors

Bakar (Photo: Nikola Zoko)

By Paulina Mlinarić

One of Croatia’s oldest coastal towns has opened the doors to some of its best-kept historical treasures, giving visitors a unique opportunity to explore centuries of heritage, maritime tradition and local culture.

Located on the shores of the deeply indented Bakar Bay in the Kvarner region, Bakar welcomed visitors at the start of summer with its annual Walk Through History event, part of the wider Margaretino leto (Margaret’s Summer) festival.

The event transformed the town’s medieval streets into an open-air stage celebrating Bakar’s rich history, with guided tours, historical interpretations, traditional crafts, cultural performances and local gastronomy.

One of this year’s highlights was the opening of the new “About Fish” Interpretation Centre, housed inside the historic Turkish House, one of Bakar’s best-known landmarks.

Turkish house (Photo: Nikola Zoko)

Despite its name, local tradition says the building was named after a Turkish woman who fell in love with a sailor from Bakar.

(Photo: Nikola Zoko)

Today, it has been transformed into an interactive exhibition space showcasing the area’s long fishing tradition through multimedia displays, authentic artefacts and stories about tuna fishing, local fishing families and the importance of the sea to the region’s economy and identity.

Visitors were also given the rare opportunity to explore the catacombs beneath the Co-Cathedral of St Andrew the Apostle, underground spaces that have remained largely inaccessible to the public for decades.

Entry to the catacombs (Photo: Nikola Zoko)

The exhibition, Hidden Treasury of Bakar, features religious relics, historic manuscripts and other valuable artefacts reflecting the town’s spiritual and cultural heritage.

(Photo: Nikola Zoko)

The underground chambers offer a glimpse into the lives of generations of sailors, clergy and local residents who shaped Bakar’s history.

(Photo: Nikola Zoko)

The event also celebrated Kvarner’s culinary heritage, with visitors sampling traditional seafood dishes, potato polenta with Grobnik cheese, the famous Bakar water drink, Bakar cake and the town’s well-known baškoti biscuits, once an essential food for sailors on long voyages.

Bakar cake (Photo: Nikola Zoko)

Additional attractions included jewellery-making workshops, exhibitions dedicated to local maritime heritage, performances by cultural associations, majorettes and children’s groups, before the evening concluded with a concert by Croatian singer Marko Tolja at Bakar Castle.

(Photo: Nikola Zoko)

The Walk Through History event forms part of Margaret’s Summer, Bakar’s largest annual cultural festival, which runs throughout June and July.

(Photo: Nikola Zoko)

This year’s programme includes the Melodies of Istria and Kvarner festival, the Bakar Tango Festival, Bura Film Festival, the traditional Naval Battle re-enactment, concerts, exhibitions, theatre performances, sporting events, children’s activities and a wide range of gastronomic events.

Bakar Tourist Board director Sonja Jelušić Marić and Mayor Tomislav Klarić (Photo: Nikola Zoko)

Dedicated to St Margaret, the town’s patron saint, whose feast day is celebrated on 13 July, the festival continues to showcase Bakar’s unique blend of history, culture and community, attracting thousands of visitors each summer.

(Photo: Nikola Zoko)