For centuries the district of Servola has been home to a strong community, known in the area and recognized as far away as Vienna for the excellence of its bread.
Women bakers, the "pancogole", active for over three centuries, made the dough for the bread in their homes, baked it in the local ovensand carried it home in wicker baskets resting on their heads. This historical testimony was collected by Fr Dušan Jakomin. At the parish priest's invitation in 1975, the community responded in a united fashion, donating furniture, clothes and furnishings needed to open the ethnographic museum.
On the ground floor, the dwelling is dominated by a bread oven, a kitchen and a simple bedroom.
On the first floor there are alternating temporary exhibitions that display the many items stored in the museum at any one time. Currently on show are sets of typical traditional Servolan dress.
What today is but one of the city districts, in the past was a hilltop village in its own right with a strong identity. The Slovenian population of Servola has maintained many of the old traditions and which can be discovered amongst the rooms of the museum. You can even taste the same bread we see on show in the museum just by going to the nearby bakery.
1. The typical oven for baking bread;
2. The coloured cushions that the women placed between their head and the large bread-baskets to better endure the fatigue of carrying them;
3. A picture on the stairs shows the Emperor Franz Jozef welcoming the women of Servola . The reputation of the "pancogole" was great indeed.
