Poverty at the Topusko crossing

The town of Topusko was also of great importance for the transferring of cultural heritage. Here, mining and masonry were re-established relatively quickly, while upon the invitation of the Croatian-Hungarian king Andrew II the Cistercian monks arrived in 1208.

A legacy from these new-comers from the Clairvaux Abbey is also their own version of the Gothic style; Topusko quickly became the building site of one of Croatia's largest churches of the time. Unfortunately, that church remained just a building site, although its unfinished portal represents an important cultural feature, and our museum has displayed several of its stone fragments.