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„Protected cultural heritage of Republic of Croatia“

Konoba
Bratanić

About Konoba

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Cultural heritage

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Story of the Konoba

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Family Bratanić konoba is a private museum with protected cultural heritage status. It is not a restaurant but unique story telling place which represents the unique preserved traditional dalmatian piece of past times.

The Bratanić family konoba (wine cellar) is the first and only konoba to bear the status of ‘Protected cultural heritage of the Republic of Croatia”. It is a symbol of all konobas, those which are gone and have long since closed their doors, but primarily those that still maintain their old luster and live their lives of times past.

It is not a restaurant, or a pizzeria, nor a cafe, or any form of catering establishment. It is simply the konoba; a way of life, the meaning of life, philosophy, poetry, etc, something that must be experienced.

In it imaginary doors open leading to a make-believe world in which time moves slowly, people were happier and healthier, and were content with little.

Even though our grandfather’s barrels lie empty today, one can still find a bit of wine with which the story of the konoba gains another dimension. This dimension links yesterday and today, showing us that yesterday cannot return, but that we can at least live tomorrow a little like yesterday. We can at least try and be content with little, at least eat a little more healthy, live at least a little slower, just a little bit. And a little is often a lot.

FAMOUS PEOPLE WORDS ABOUT KONOBA

A praiseworthy attempt to preserve the values united under the concept and content of the phrase KONOBA. 

Prof. dr. sc. Nenad Cambj, regular member of the Croatian Academy of Art and Science

The konoba is a sign. Its survival is a sign of recognition for the material and spiritual values that one generation gives to the next.

Rene Bakalović, gastronomad

This story about the konoba is a tale of the altar of the old Mediterranean… The konoba was their sanctuary and everyday theater.

Prof. Veljko Barbieri, gastronome

Today, particularly as we bear witness to this so-called faster pace of life, certain traditional values are becoming more and more significant.

Doc. dr. sc. Neven Ljubičić, dr. med.

If there is a name which evokes entirely special scents, lighting, and contents, then it has to be the Dalmatian, coastal konoba.

Prof. dr. sc. Ivan Urlić dr. med.

For the laborer, the konoba was a vault for summer storage; must was fermented in it, young wines were decanted, oil was stored, fish and meat was salted.

Dr. sc. Radoslav Bužančić

Of great significance is Miki Bratanić’s contribution in that, with his poetry, writing and speaking, he has drawn the attention of the Croatian public, and now the international public, to the phenomenon that is the Dalmatian konoba.

Prof. dr. sc. Joško Belamarić

As a sort of archetypical signal from the Antique and center of a special world, the konoba is really the soul of Dalmatian civilization. All told, it is not a place, it is a philosophy. 

Jakša Fiamengo, writer, regular member of the Croatian Academy of Art and Science

“This effort assumes a new dimension when one is aware of author Miki Bratanić’s struggle to have the Dalmatian konoba recognized for its importance in the lives of coastal farmers and fisherman, and to have it protected as a cultural good.”

Dr. sc. Silvio Braica

“It is an expertly written sign of respect for the Dalmatian laborer and his centuries of work on these coasts, and so the author deserves the highest of praise for this rare, exemplary book.”

Prof. dr. sc. Tomislav Raukar