The village of Mukinje
In 1953, the Office of the Director of the Plitvice Lakes National Park adopted a decision to build the village of Mukinje. The plan was to build a central administrative settlement for the purposes of managing the National Park, as well as residential buildings for the employers of the park and public buildings.
The plan was to build a central administrative settlement for the purposes of managing the National Park, as well as residential buildings for the employers of the park and public buildings (post office, local office, first-aid station, etc.). A mountaineer’s lodge, commercial premises (stables, bakery, slaughterhouse, launderette, warehouse), workshop garages and sports facilities were also included in the plan. Due to the construction work on Hotel Plitvice, all structures in Velika Poljana had to be moved to Mukinje. The owners of villas were provided replacement houses with yards in Mukinje.
Based on Lavoslav Horvat’s design, 1954 saw the construction of 4 residential buildings, a local office, a building with a shop and a restaurant, a bakery and a launderette, a butcher’s shop and a slaughterhouse with stables, as well as a garage. The village was equipped with water and electricity infrastructure. Residential buildings are located on the east side of the hill, above all commercial and public facilities, to get as much sunlight as possible. Public buildings (shop, restaurant, post office, etc.) are located in the centre of the village, while commercial premises are located in its lower part. Horvat zoned the settlement according to its purpose, while also respecting the configuration of the terrain. Having the maximum exposure to sunlight in mind, he designed a coherent building complex, tailored to the environment. A combination of contemporary (concrete) and traditional (wood, stone) materials was used in the construction, the roofs are steep in line with the traditional method of construction, and their fibre cement surface imitates shingles. Four residential buildings have identical layout dimensions and rectangular shapes. Each building has 4 apartments. Two apartments are on the ground floor and two on the top floor. Two of the buildings have woodsheds in the basement which also serve for the neighbouring buildings. There is a porch at the front of each building, while the top floor
apartments are accessed through a steep stairway. The buildings are currently in a very bad condition due to unresolved apartment ownership issues and the consequential inability to properly manage the buildings. The buildings have been entered into the registry of cultural objects as a protected cultural object under designation Z-1861. Two other public buildings in Mukinje have been designed by Lavoslav Horvat and are also protected cultural objects. One building once served as a shop and a restaurant. It was adapted into a canteen in 1976, but since the 2011 renovation the building has been used as an office space for the Public Institution of the Plitvice Lakes National Park. It is an elongated rectangular single-storey building with a steep hip roof. The top floor is accessed through an external stairway on the west side of the building, and the top floor offices have corniced windows on the roof. The building has been entered into the registry of cultural objects as a protected cultural object under designation Z-3854. The other building is the Office of the Director of the Plitvice Lakes National Park, also built in 1954. It is situated in the centre of the village, alongside other public buildings. It was repurposed several times, and it last housed a post office and apartments. Due to unresolved ownership
issues, it is in a very bad condition and requires urgent renovation. It has similar shape, dimensions and roof as the canteen, and was built using the same type of materials. The entrance to the ground floor is recessed and situated on the right half of the building’s longer front. The top floor is accessed from the inside of the ground floor. The building has been entered into the registry of cultural objects as a protected cultural object under designation Z-3855. Aside from these buildings, which are protected cultural goods designed by Lavoslav Horvat, the centre of the village houses garages (currently used by firefighters), while the lower part of the village houses a complex of commercial buildings (butcher’s shop, stables, carpentry workshop) which are partially preserved.
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Znanstveno-stručni centar ‘Dr. Ivo Pevalek’ 53231 Plitvička Jezera — hr tel +385 (0)53 751 015, +385 (0)53 751 014 e-mail info@np-plitvicka-jezera.hr web www.np-plitvicka-jezera.hr
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Plitvice Lakes National Park is part of Lika Destination – destination of protected areas and a gastro-destination which offers an unique combination of inland and the sea, where you have the opportunity to experience no less than three climates in an only 30-minute drive, like in few other places, and truly experience this one-of-a-kind phenomenon of contrasts.
impressum — publisher Public Institution Plitivice Lakes National Park photos Public Institution Plitivice Lakes National Park Archives text National Park Conservation Service