Olive Oil Museum, Skrip, Brac, Croatia - A must!

My whole family loves olives and olive oil, that luscious, grassy, peppery, viscous liquid which makes nearly everything taste better. It was, therefore, a no brainer that we should take the short 9k trip from Supetar to the village of Skrip to visit the Olive Oil Museum. There is no bus service to Skrip but the taxi service is cheap. It takes only 10 minutes through lush countryside where the trees have been bent by the famous winter winds that sweep the island. (Note: We took the taxi driver's phone number and he returned for us when we called.)

Skrip is a tiny, sleepy, picturesque, village (pop 173), perched on a hill overlooking a deep valley. It is the oldest settlement on the island. Sleepy indeed, we didn't see a soul about as we drove between ancient stone houses to the museum. Not a fan of crowds I was loving it already.

The museum was originally a wine producing factory founded by the Krstulovc family in 1864. It was handed down through the generations and kept producing wine right up until 1963 when the cost of new technology became prohibitive. In 2013 Kruno Cukrov, the grandson of the founder, restored the mill, installed new technology and began producing oil again, opening up the old mill as a museum.

Left: The Olive Museum
Above: My son sharing a joke with our lovely guide
Below: Inside the museum

What a warm welcome awaited us! There was a small group of tourists already having a tour but that didn't matter, we were given complimentary myrtle liqueur, soft drinks for the children, olive oil and bread and led up to the atmospheric loft to enjoy them while we awaited our turn for a tour. It is a tiny museum, interesting, nevertheless.  I enjoyed hearing about the history of the building and the oil making process and the children were delighted to be invited to turn the old fashioned press.  A novelty for a minute or two, a daunting thought to spend hours doing it.  Apart from olive oil the museum shop sells many delicious products produced by the family.  How could we resist? Happy with our purchases of oil, liqueur and jam we set off for a walk around the village promising to return for lunch.

Above and below: The original mill equipment

Although small this village packs a punch history wise. The Illyrian town walls date back to 1400BC.  The Romans lived here using slaves to carve out large blocks of the beautiful white stone the island is famous for to be shipped to Split for the building of Diocletian's Palace.  Incidentally, the white stone from Brac was also used for the building of the White House, home of American Presidents, although I'm pretty certain no slaves were involved then. :-)  A  Roman mausoleum lies in the base of the 16th century Radojkovic Tower which was built for defense and now houses an excellent museum displaying artifacts and crafts from throughout the town's history.

The 16th century tower and barracks now houses the Skrip museum. St Helena's spire in the background

The Cerinic Castle tower and the window

The children were enthralled by an old woman who was calling to us from a glassless window high in the wall of the 16th century Cerinic Castle.  She was inviting us in but when we went through the gate to the castle she had gone and the only way she could have got up to that window was by a ladder, there was no floor. Were we imagining it? Was she real? We'll never know the mystery of the castle in Skrip.

The 18th century church of St Helena overlooks the village and the village square.  Legend has it that Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, was born here. With the Angelus bell ringing midday we strolled the few and narrow streets. An old woman sitting in a door way beckoned us to join her for lunch. That would have been fun but we had already promised the museum.

We wandered the grave yard, once again seeing the familiar surnames of people we know in New Zealand. Near the cemetery is a look out with a stunning view over the valley where you can look down on large olive plantations.

It was time for lunch so we headed back to the museum. The owners were delighted and surprised to see us and welcomed us like old friends.  Lunch was served in the loft, the original owners' home, and it was wonderful - bread, olive oil, olives, tappenade, fig and melon jams, cheeses, dried figs and wine, so much that we couldn't eat it all.  Delicious and cheap and authentically Croatian.  I was in heaven.  This is what I had come to Croatia for, to be sitting in an old stone attic, under the watchful gaze of ancestors photos and religious paintings, eating local food, and enjoying amazing warmth and hospitality. We lingered, happily soaking up the atmosphere and reluctant to leave.

Happiness is sharing a Croatian lunch in an olive mill
You get a glimpse of the loose stone roof, an unusual feature and a dying art

I loved the fact that we saw very few people the whole day - no seething crowds of tourists jostling each other, no souvenir shops or mass produced trinkets, just genuine history and authenticity.  For me this was the best day of our whole trip to Brac and a memory I will always treasure.

Note: As we waited for our return taxi an old woman approached us selling embroidered sachets of lavender.  We declined to buy any partly because we didn't need them and partly because I would not be allowed to take them into New Zealand due to strict bio security laws. Later My son and I deeply regretted not buying them and we still feel badly about it. Many people in these small villages scratch out a living and we could easily have bought some and left them at our accommodation. We didn't think it through, hopefully we have learnt from it.

www.muzejuja.com