In picturesque Bedenec in 2011, members of the Local Committee and the Association for Culture and Sports recognized the opportunity to create a special story. Old wooden houses from the area of Zagorje were carefully dismantled, oak planks and other valuable materials were separated in order to create a new ethno house, a true oasis of authenticity. The Bedenec community did not just build the house but told a wonderful story that will win the hearts of all lovers of tradition and the authentic past.
Today, the Ethno - house in Bedenec preserves this valuable heritage and at the same time celebrates it through the manifestation "Dan bedenske lončarije" (Bedenec Pottery Day). It is an opportunity for the community, artists and pottery enthusiasts to come together to celebrate their glorious tradition and protected intangible asset. And here is its story!
Ethno - house „Bedijenska Hiža“'s welcome
Welcome! I am opening my door to show you a copy of the antique home we had in ancient times. In my basement you will be greeted by a clay rooster that once crowed merrily in the early dawn. And in my hall, you can turn the grinding wheel. My biggest room is the one where people stayed during the day. There is a table, benches, a cradle, shelves, a crucifix, pictures of saints, a kerosene lamp, an iron, a spinning wheel, and a sewing machine.
In rooms like these, hard-working women wove cloth and sewed clothes for the family. There was a gramophone for good mood, an old radio for the news, and pottery for practical use. They built me on a stone foundation with oak beams and thick wooden planks. My roof is covered with tiles. They painted me white and decorated me with carved wooden crosses and diamonds. Good people took care of everything.
If you walk around my yard, you will see a pergola for grapes, a wooden table with benches and an oven for baking pottery products. When I carefully pricked my ear, I heard good people talking about the reconstruction of the farm building, so I will surely expand and grow even more. If you enter my kitchen, you will see a modest stove with an oven and a bread oven, which partially extends into the living room.
My kitchen is equipped with crockery and other essentials for food preparation. I even have two chimneys, and my kitchen was covered with ceramic tiles for better heat retention. To my left you will see an additional room intended for young spouses: newly married couples need some privacy (my old sisters, like true ladies, always kept quiet about that room).
There are wardrobes, chests, a table, a bench, a stove, and pottery tools. I like to be visited and I like to listen to what my visitors have to say. Everyone praises me and then I grow proud. I often listen because I'm curious to hear as much as possible about myself. I'm not as silent as my predecessors, but that's not my fault, it's the fault of this modern age when everyone takes pictures of me and then I feel important. I would like you, dear reader, to visit me and describe me afterwards or at least take a photo of me, so that I may live as long as possible.
I may not be as old as my predecessors, but I try my best to tell their story. I am not just a replica but a proud advocate of an era whose features I preserve as best I can.