The visitors will be able to see the Prekrižje Villa, which is part of the Presidential Office complex in the Pantovčak neighbourhood.
Over the years, many important decisions have been made here. But, for a month, politicians will be replaced by tourists visiting the Advent in Zagreb festival. The main meeting rooms of the Prekrižje Villa, which is part of the Presidential Office complex, will be open to visitors during this holiday season, reports Večernji List on December 2, 2017.
The villa, which has been closed to the public for decades, is expected to be visited by thousands of people. The first visitors will be admitted at 16:00 today.
Although it was announced earlier that the wine cellar in the basement and the apartments on the upper floor would also be open to the public, in the end, just the ground floor of the villa will be accessible. In addition to the main meeting room, which has for this occasion been turned into a rural home, the terrace and a smaller adjacent room have also been decorated with appropriate Christmas ornaments, as designed by the Ethnographic Museum.
“Part of the jewellery is from the museum and some pieces have been produced especially for this occasion. In order to find out how old Slavonian houses looked during the festive season, we studied old photographs and archives. At the time, decorations were made from everything that was found in the home, walnuts, hazelnuts, candies, dried plums… There are a thousand different ornaments on one Christmas tree,” said senior curator from Ethnographic Museum Danijela Križanec Beganović.
The villa will be open on Fridays and Saturdays until 23 December, and people will be able to enter without notice, although everyone will have to go through a security check.
The Prekrižje villa was built as a summer residence in 1942 and was designed by Ivan Zemljak, one of the most prominent protagonists of modern architecture in Croatia between the two wars. It was made in the traditional style with wood and straw roof. During construction, the architect used elements from traditional Croatian architecture and followed the same manner in the interior design, for which furnishings were commissioned from local artisans.
The rooms are filled with wooden carved chests, wrought iron lamps, decorative pieces of folk lace, masonry ovens with ceramic parts imitating those in peasant houses, and similar items.
Former US President George Bush, who had lunch there, is among several prominent guests, while the current President uses it for various meetings and receptions. It is located in the northern part of the presidential complex, farther away from the main building.
Translated from Večernji List.
