First truffle museum in Croatia opens
- by croatiaweek
- in News
Truffle museum opens in Buzet (Photo credit: Karlić Tartufi)
Istria has a reputation internationally for its quality truffles and now the area is home to the first truffle museum in Croatia.
The truffle museum has opened by Karlić Tartufi in Buzet. The long-standing experience of the Karlić family in truffle harvesting has been passed on from generation to generation.
“We present you the truffle museum dedicated to truffles and truffle hunters of Istria and the world. After a few years of gathering information, old truffle items and stories, we have finally realised our idea of representing the underground treasure which visitors will be able to experience trough visual, auditory and olfactory senses,” Karlić Tartufi said.
The museum is also interactive, so visitors can see the complete biological cycle of the most famous and most important Istrian truffle, the white truffle tuber magnatum, experience sounds from the Motovun forest, and see and smell all six types of truffles growing in Istria.
The Karlić family first started in the truffle business back in 1966 when Ivan Rašpolić began harvesting in Paladini near Buzet. Back then, the Motovun forest was bigger than it is today. Both white and black truffles found in that area were considered to be among the best quality truffles in Istria.
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12 years ago, the Karlić’s planted the first plantation for truffles in Croatia with 2700 mainly oak and hazelnut trees.
“We thank all our friends who helped us collect all the items, pictures and stories for the museum,” they added.
The Karlić’s sell their truffles and truffle products through distributors in Germany, Austria, the UK and Singapore. In 2019, they launched the world’s first white truffle gin.
Admission to the museum, which is located at Paladini 14, Buzet, Istria, is free until May 1st 2022.
