The Museum of the City of Šibenik is a museum of a complex type, and consists of an archeological, cultural-historical, a department of recent history and an ethnographic department. There is also a restoration and conservation workshop within the Museum. Its activity is the collection, preservation, processing and presentation of the cultural and historical heritage of the Šibenik region. In its collections, it preserves numerous objects of museum value important for the study of Šibenik's past from the earliest times to the present day.
The Šibenik Museum was
founded on December 20, 1925 on the occasion of the thousandth
anniversary of the Croatian kingdom, and is located in the former
Rector's Palace near the Cathedral.
The Rector's Palace is
part of the city's coastal defense system and was built in the 13th
- 14th century. To this day, two wings of the once much larger
building in which the highest representative of the state government
in Šibenik - the city prince - the captain, have been preserved.
The south wing extends along the coast from a square to a
polygonal tower. The square tower known as the Tower of the Prince's
Palace is the largest defensive structure on the coast and dates
from the 14th century. Between it and the Bishop's Palace, a
16th-century Renaissance city gate has been preserved. In the middle
of the ground floor of the south wing of the Rector's Palace is a
Gothic passage with the city gate over which is the city coat of
arms with the image of St. Michael - the patron saint of the city.
The west wing of the Rector's Palace faces the sacristy and the
apsidal parts of the Cathedral. At the southern end of this part are
two doors of simple stone frames, and between them a niche with a
baroque sculpture of the city prince Nikola Marcello.
In
1975, the renovation of the Rector's Palace was completed and the
modern functioning of the museum was made possible.
Structure
and action
The museum material is divided into collections of the
archeological department (prehistory, antiquity, the Middle Ages and
underwater), cultural-historical, and the department of recent
history (lapids, old masters, old graphics, weapons, old
photographs, postcards, archives, gallery, collection of rare
editions , archival, cartographic, numismatic, jewelry, furniture,
ceramics, everyday objects, liturgical objects, musical
instruments). The total number of museums is about 150,000.
The Museum has achieved the most significant results in research,
exhibition and publishing. Numerous archeological sites in the
vicinity of Šibenik and the Šibenik aquatorium were explored, and
over 300 exhibitions were organized, which were accompanied by
exhibition catalogs. In addition, the Museum has published numerous
editions that are extremely valuable for shedding light on the past
of Krešimir's town, the oldest Croatian town on the Adriatic.
Archaeological Department
The Archaeological Department of
the Museum of the City of Šibenik covers a long period of man's past
from the earliest material remains from the Old Stone Age to the
Middle Ages. Although the first archaeologist at the Museum in the
1950s was prof. Antun Ratković, The Department has been active in
the true sense since 1965 with the arrival of Zlatko Gunjača, when
more intensive research, journalism and exhibition work began.
Numerous field research has enriched the museum's holdings, which,
in addition to Gunjača, was also contributed by former employees of
the Department of Dr. sc. Zdenko Brusić and Marko Menđušić.
Cultural-historical department
The cultural-historical department
of the Museum of the City of Šibenik deals with the period of
Šibenik's history from the first mention of Šibenik in 1066 to the
fall of Venice in 1797. The museum-gallery activity of the
Department includes the collection, processing and storage of museum
material, as well as its exhibition presentation.
The Department of Culture and History has formed numerous
collections: Gallery, Cartographic, Numismatic, Collection of
archives, Collection of musical instruments, Collection of graphics,
ceramics, lapids, liturgical objects, Collection of jewelry,
furniture, weapons, Collection of everyday objects, Collection of
rare editions of old photographs, Collection of old masters,
textiles, Collection of varia.
The Department also includes a
Restoration Workshop for Painting and Polychrome Sculpture.
Department of Contemporary History
The Department of Contemporary
History was established in the summer of 2003, by separating from
the Department of Cultural History. It covers the period from the
fall of Venice in 1797 to the present, which includes the life and
development of the city during the rule of Austrian, French and
Italian rule, the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and
Slovenes, the First and Second World Wars, the postwar period and
the recent past. Homeland War.
In its activity, as well as
all departments of the Museum, it deals with the collection,
processing, storage and presentation of the collected museum
material. In addition to collecting materials about the city's past,
it also monitors contemporary city events. The department consists
of numerous collections: A collection of documents, posters,
three-dimensional objects, photographs and others. In addition, the
Department has a diatheque, a film library, and a large number of
videos and audio recordings that shed light on numerous events in
the City from the period of the second half of the 20th century. The
department collects new material every day because it monitors and
records daily events in the city.
Ethnographic Department
The ethnographic department deals with the collection, processing
and presentation of the ethnographic heritage of the Šibenik area.
Conservation and restoration workshop for metal, stone,
ceramics, glass and wood