Alley of Glagolitic Priests

The "Aleja glagoljaša" (Alley of Glagolitic Priests or Glagolitic Alley) is a 20th century string of eleven open-air commemorative sculptures positioned every kilometer that that dot the road between the fortified medieval town of Roč (Rozzo) with approximately 180 inhabitants, and tiny Hum (Colmo), also fortified - a town that is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as “the world’s smallest village" comprising of two small streets, a few houses, two churches and about 20-26 permanent residents. The monuments are a dedication of recent construction that was intended to celebrate and preserve Glagolitic script, an archaic form of Slavonic writing that was devised for liturgical purposes in the 9th century by the Greek missionary priests, Cyril and Methodius, who were brothers.

Contrary to popular modern myths, the brothers never set foot in Istria, but their script was used in Croatia until the 15th century and in Dalmatian, Istrian and Kvarner regions until the end of the 19th century. The oldest Glagolitic relics in Istria are a carving from the 11th century in Plomin (Fianona), a carving from the 11th century, a fragment from the 12th century in Grdoselo (Gherdoselo), and graffiti from the 13th century in Hum (Colmo).

Constructed in 1977-81 on a 6.4-km. (4 mi.) stretch along the route between Roč and Hum (Colmo), the Glagolitic Alley is a modest but strange memorial route, the brainchild of the Istrian poet Zvane Crnja (who founded the Cakavian Academy) and built by the modern sculptor Želimir Janeš with the collaboration of Josip Bratulić. Even though there aren't any explanations on most of the sculptures, their overall symbolic purpose is to recall "the close associations of the Roč region with the foundations of Croatian literature" via representations of important events and people who were associated with Glagolitic writings significant to Croatia's national sentiment, but not necessarily reflective of their role in Istria's own complex history.

The sculptures in Glagolitic Alley are described as follows:

1. "Cakavskog sabora" (Column of the Cakav Assembly) - a two meter high stone column in the shape of the Glagolitic letter "S". a reference to Croatian autonomy (?) and the Cakavian dialect, and it is placed at the turn-off to Hum (Colmo). In the old Slavonic term "slovo", this letter means the word, understanding, Logos, Verbum.
2. "The Table of Cyril and Methodius" or "Three-legged Table Before Two Cypresses" - a round stone table on three legs, honoring the 9th century Greek monks who became saints, Cyril and Methodius. They were missionaries who spread literacy to the Slavs via the Glagolitic script that they devised along with the Cyrillic one. The Table has inscriptions in three alphabets along the edge: Glagolitic, Cyrillic and Latin script which says "Stol Konstantina Kirila i Metodija" (The Table of Constantine Cyril and Methodius). The sculpture symbolizes the gathering of the Croatians around their script. It overlooks a lovely valley, with a cypress tree to keep it company;
3. "Seat of Clement of Ohrid" or "Assembly of Kliment of Ohrid" - set beneath an oak tree and consists of a stone lectern and stone seats arranged around it. It is in memory of the first Slav University near Lake Ohrid in Macedonia which was founded by St. Clement was a Bulgarian scholar and writer, a pupil of Cyril and Methodius, after he was expelled from Moravia;
4. "Lapidarium" - a collection of stone monuments set up in front of the village church in Brnobici, with Glagolitic inscriptions from all regions of the former Yugoslavia hewn into the stone of the wall which encloses the square. Included are reconstructions of the Baška Tablet, the inscription from Plomin (Fianona), the Tablet of Val un, the Inscription from Krk (Cherso), and so on;
5. "Refuge (or Gorge?) of the Croatian Lucidar" - refers to scholars in the Middles Ages who were responsible for advances in literature and knowledge. The famous medieval encyclopedia called Lucidar, may have been revised in Istria since the Croatian who wrote the revisions regarded the Ucka (Ciceria) Mountain Range as the Croatian equivalent of Mt. Olympus. The sculpture is in the form of a fragment of wall that depicts the peak of Mount Ucka rising high above the clouds;
6. "Grgur Ninski Observation Point" - a block of stone with the Glagolitic, Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. It was erected in memory of Gregory of Nin (Croatian: Grgur Ninski), a medieval bishop who strongly opposed the Pope and official circles of the Church and who, after the Great Assembly in 926, introduced the Croatian language in the religious services. In the 19th century, he became a symbol of resistence against domination by Rome and Vienna. His memorial is a stone block in the shape of a book with carvings in three alphabets: Glagolitic, Cyrrilic and Latin;
7. "Istarski razvod" - the most impressive monument in the alley. A path leads to stone gates in the shape of the Glagolitic letter "L" up past other letters which spell the words "istarski razvod", representing the 16th century Glagolitic document found in Istria which purports to be a transcription of manuscripts of earlier times and which were written simultaneously in three languages - Latin, German and Illyrian (not in Croatian Glagolitic script). The transcription claims to be a true copy, yet it includes dates and people as being together who existed in different periods, and it also includes events that occurred after the date of the purported originals of which there are no extant copies. Thus, while the transcription is historic in its own right, it is not a historic legal document;
8. "The Wall of the Croatian Protestants and Heretics" - set in a wall which is in the form of an Istrian dry stone wall, is the Glagolitic letter "S'"in the form of water of sand clock. Beside it are the names Croatian Protestants and "heretics". [Ed. Are Mathias Flacius, Lupetina, and other Istrians named?] In the wall and on tablets are engraved fragments of sentences from Protestant books that were published in Germany in three alphabets for the use of South Slavs;
9. "Resting Place of Zakan Juraj (or Juri)" - reached through a shortcut across the ravine or by road, it is situated beside the road and consists of a huge stone block that symbolizes a book. The inscription is attributed to Juraj Zakan from Roč who, with these words, announces the publication of a Glagolitic missal dating from 1483. Around the block are seven stones shaped as Glagolitic letters which spell the words "Zakan Juri";
10. "Memorial to Resistence and Freedom" - a stone column that stands in front of the entrance to Hum. It is made of three stone blocks placed one on top of the other and representing three historical eras: Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Age. Each block has a copy of inscriptions from the period it represents: Latin for Antiquity, Glagolitic-Croatian (from medieval sources) for the Middle Ages, and songs of the Istrian Partisans in World War II;
11. "The town gates of Hum (Colmo)" - the solid double gates of the town are covered with copper plates and decorated with twelve medallions representing the months of the year according to old calendars.They show typical activities of the season: life and work in the fields, houses and village courtyards. On the door knocker is an engraved invitation to enter the town, but also a warning to anyone who comes with evil intentions. [Ed. Is the knocker engraving original to the door or part of the 20th century additions?]

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Created: Saturday, April 02, 2011; Last updated: Saturday, May 07, 2022
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