Collection The Medieval Archaeology Collection
The beginnings of the collection of archaeological material were recorded on January 15, 1911, when the grand master of the Brethren of the Croatian Dragon Society and first director of the City Museum Emilij pl. Laszovski accepted a medieval ceramic vessel and a stone mortar excavated during rebuilding works at the city hall in Kušević Street.
The foundation of the collection is composed of finds discovered during archaeological investigations carried out in the 1990s within the heritage complex in which the Zagreb City Museum itself is located; these are objects that reflect the past of the Free and Royal City of Gradec (1242-1850).
At the same time as the foundation of the collection, 1997, Zagreb City Museum carried out the first rescue archaeological investigations in the historical core of the city, at the site New City Gate in Opatička Street. This was the beginning of successful collaboration between museum professionals and the monument protection department.
After that came a series of archaeological operations within the protected historic urban centre of the city of Zagreb, which brought to the light of day numerous material testimonies of past times, which essentially fill in the image of the past of Zagreb.
Particularly deserving of reference are the several-year investigation in Grič Park, the research in St Mark’s Square and at the site of today’s mall Centar Kaptol, within the Upper Town High School of today, alongside the church of the BVM in Remete and so on.
These investigations revealed
- segments of the settlement of the Old Iron Age (8/7
centuries BC),
- they defined parts of the medieval city fortifications,
- found graves concerning which there were no data in
the historical sources,
- objects that show there were trade links with the
Mediterranean and the central European cultural
circles,
- the complex of an Angevin palace of the 14th century,
and
- objects that reflect the life, lifestyle and artistic and
craft achievements of the one-time inhabitants of
Gradec and Kaptol.
Among other things, particular mention should be made of parts of ceramic stoves discovered in a workshop that made stoves in Nova Ves from the end of the 15th to the early 16th century.
Furthermore, of objects made outside Croatia, one should particularly mention a jug found in Grič Park, made in Italian workshops in the mid-14th century, which, as luxury product of the time, tells of a well-off owner. Then there is, for example, a majolica jug, fond in the courtyard of the ecclesiastical mansion of Kaptol 8, the source of which can be found in the workshops of central Italy in the 16th century.
Numismatic finds (coins, medals of the saints) are exceptionally valuable. Interpretation of them allows the historical image of central Europe to be reflected in today’s Zagreb space. From among them we can pick out one specimen of Greek coinage from the area of Zagreb, struck in Sicily after 288 BC, in the Greek colony of Messina. Since it was later perforated, it was probably used as a pendant in the Middle Ages, and we can thus think of it within the context of costumery.
The many items of ceramic tableware and kitchen vessels are precious as a source for the reconstruction of the everyday life of the onetime inhabitants of today’s Zagreb. The jugs and pots discovered in the well at Medvedgrad for example provide prototypes for the stylistic and morphological analysis of vessels from the time before 1590, when an earthquake brought life in this burg to a total standstill.
Although a large number of objects also belong to later periods of history, like coins from the 16th century, vessels from the 17th and 18th centuries and a pipe from the 19th, the archaeological context in which they were found mean that they must be kept within this collection.
Collection Manager: Boris Mašić, museum adviser
Related exhibitions
From the Lifestyle and Life of the Nuns of St Clare on Zagreb’s Gradec, Zagreb City Museum, 1996
Late Gothic Stove Tiles from Nova Ves, Zagreb City Museum, 2002
Late Gothic Stove Tiles from Zagreb, Budapest History Museum, 2003
Late Gothic Stove Tiles from Nova Ves, Umag City Museum, 2003
Late Gothic Stove Tiles from Zagreb, Regional Museum, Koper, 2005
A Brook in the Heart of Zagreb - Along the Medveščak Brook from source to mouth, Zagreb City Museum, 2005
A coin of the Greek colony of Messana (Messina), Zagreb City Museum, 2007
The Centennial of Zagreb City Museum, 1907-2007, Zagreb City Museum, 2007
Ancient Greeks on Croatian Territory, Klovićevi dvori Gallery, Zagreb, 2010
MORS PORTA VITAE - DEATH THE GATE OF LIFE: Old Zagreb cemeteries and funerals, Zagreb City Museum, 2011
In the Service of Archaeology, Zagreb City Museum, 2013
On Turbulent Grounds – Archaeology and 725 Years of Shrines in Remete, Zagreb City Museum, 2013
Related publications
Mašić, Boris. Spaetgotische Kacheln aus Nova Ves.
Zagreb : Zagreb Stadtmuseum, 2002
Šterk, Slavko; Boris Mašić. MORS PORTA VITAE - DEATH THE GATE OF LIFE: Old Zagreb cemeteries and funerals.
Zagreb : Zagreb City Museum, 2011
[brochure]
Bugar, Aleksandra; Boris Mašić.
In the service of archaeology. Zagreb : Zagreb City Museum, 2013
Mašić, Boris. Na nemirnim temeljima : Arheologija i 725 godina svetišta u Remetama = Auf unruhigen Funamenten : die Archäology und Jahre Sanktuarium Remete.
Zagreb : Zagreb City Museum, 2013
Related published papers
Mašić, Boris. A Medieval Coin in the Holdings of the Zagreb Town Museum. // Numizmatičke vijesti (Numismatic News). 43, 1(2001), pp. 131-137.
Mašić, Boris. Arms on Late-Gothic Stove Tiles from the Zagreb Workshop in Nova Ves. // Numizmatičke vijesti (Numismatic News). 44, 1(2002), pp. 151-156.
Mašić, Boris. Interpretation of the Skeleton Find on the Site of the Zagreb City Museum – Convent of Clarissae. // Histria Antiqua, 8(2002), pp. 95-101.
Mašić, Boris. Lights in the dark. // Croatia : Inflight Magazine. Winter(2003/04), pp. 18-26.
Mašić, Boris. Archaeological Investigation of the Site of Kaptol 29a (Courtyard). // Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak (Croatian Archaeological Yearbook), 1(2004). Zagreb : Ministry of Culture, pp. 112-113.
Mašić, Boris. Archaeological Excavations in the Park Grič in Zagreb. // Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak (Croatian Archaeological Yearbook), 1(2004). Zagreb : Ministry of Culture, pp. 114-115.
Mašić, Boris. Archaeological Investigations in Tkalčić Street in Zagreb. // Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak (Croatian Archaeological Yearbook), 1(2004). Zagreb : Ministry of Culture, pp. 116-117.
Mašić, Boris. Archaeological Investigations in Vranicanijeva Poljana in Zagreb. // Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak (Croatian Archaeological Yearbook), 1(2004). Zagreb : Ministry of Culture, pp. 117-119.
Mašić, Boris. Archaeological Investigations inside the Upper Town High School on Katarina Square in Zagreb. // Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak (Croatian Archaeological Yearbook), 2(2005). Zagreb : Ministry of Culture, pp. 162-164.
Mašić, Boris. Archaeological Investigations inside the Chapel of St Dismas in Nova Ves, Zagreb. // Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak (Croatian Archaeological Yearbook), 2(2005). Zagreb : Ministry of Culture, pp. 164-165.
Mašić, Boris; Josip Burmaz. Archaeological Investigations in Matoš Street in Zagreb. // Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak (Croatian Archaeological Yearbook), 2(2005). Zagreb : Ministry of Culture, pp. 165-166.
Mašić, Boris; Buga Pantlik. Archaeological Investigations at Grič Park in Zagreb. // Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak (Croatian Archaeological Yearbook), 2(2005). Zagreb : Ministry of Culture, pp. 166-168.
Mašić, Boris; Aleksandra Bugar; Buga Pantlik. Archaeological Investigations around the Church of St Mark in Zagreb. // Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak (Croatian Archaeological Yearbook), 2(2005). Zagreb : Ministry of Culture, pp. 168-171.
Mašić. Boris; Buga Pantlik. On the Find of a Uniface Pfennig in Grič Park in the Upper Town in Zagreb. // Numizmatičke vijesti (Numismatic News). 47, 58(2005), pp. 154-159.
Dukat, Zdenka; Boris Mašić. Greek Coin Found in Zagreb. // Vjesnik Arheološkog muzeja u Zagrebu (Journal of the Zagreb Archaeological Museum). 38, 1(2005), pp. 133-137.
Mašić, Boris; Aleksandra Bugar. Archaeological Excavations at St Mark Square in Zagreb. // Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak (Croatian Archaeological Yearbook), 3(2006). Zagreb : Ministry of Culture, pp. 182-184.
Mašić, Boris; Buga Pantlik. Archaeological Excavations in Grič Park in Zagreb. // Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak (Croatian Archaeological Yearbook), 4(2007). Zagreb : Ministry of Culture, pp. 204-206.
Mašić, Boris. Archaeological Excavations along the Southern Facade of the Church of St Mary of the Assumption in Remete, Zagreb. // Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak (Croatian Archaeological Yearbook), 4(2007). Zagreb : Ministry of Culture, pp. 206-208.
Mašić, Boris; Buga Pantlik. Coins Found in Grave no 74 in Grič Park in the Zagreb Upper Town. // Vjesnik Arheološkog muzeja u Zagrebu (Journal of the Zagreb Archaeological Museum). 41, 1(2008), pp. 331-342.
Mašić. Boris; Tajana Pleše. Concerning some Numismatic Finds beside the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Remete. // Numizmatičke vijesti (Numismatic News). 50, 61(2008), pp. 223-230.
Mašić, Boris. Archaeological Excavations at the Area of Zagreb Upper Town. // Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak (Croatian Archaeological Yearbook), 5(2008). Zagreb : Ministry of Culture, pp. 273-275.
Mašić, Boris; Tajana Pleše. Archaeological Excavations at the Southern Plateau near the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Remete in Zagreb. // Hrvatski arheološki godišnjak (Croatian Archaeological Yearbook), 5(2008). Zagreb : Ministry of Culture, pp. 276-278.
Mašić, Boris; Tajana Pleše. On the Group Find of Gold Coins next to the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Remete. // Opuscula Archaeologica : Papers of the Department of Archaeology, 33, 1(2009), pp. 207-219.
Mašić, Boris; Tajana Pleše. On unstable foundations. // Minerva. 21, 4(2010), pp. 50-53. (Minerva)
Mašić, Boris. On Unsettled Foundations. // MUVI 03 : Museums - Video - Film. Zagreb : Museum Documentation Centre, 2010, pp. 22.
Mašić, Boris. Devotional Pilgrim Medals from Remete. // Vjesnik Arheološkog muzeja u Zagrebu (Journal of the Zagreb Archaeological Museum). 43, 1(2010), pp. 205-226.
Premužić, Zrinka; Petra Rajić Šikanjić; Boris Mašić. Frontal sinus osteoma in a 16th century skeleton from Zagreb, Croatia. // International Journal of Paleopathology. 3(2013), pp. 54-58.