Šibenik hat is the most famous Croatian version of a red hat worn by men all throughout this city's history. Today it is orange with two rows of black decorations called bovuli, bouli, boule, or bule in Croatian.
The older version of the hat is kept by museum collections of Vienna National Ethnography Museum (ger. Österreichisches Museum für Volkskunde), Ethnographic Museum Split, Ethnographic Museum of Zagreb, National Museum in Zadar, Drniš, Knin, and the Šibenik city museum.
History of Šibenik hat
The history of the Šibenik traditional hat dates back to Japods, the Illiryian tribe of the Middle Ages. In this tribe culture, the hat was worn only by women and later it was adopted by men of the local population of the region.
An extra decorated type of hat, called kićenka, is worn during special occasions, such as weddingsor during the famous Alka in Sinj city.
Šibenik hat is also featured on the Šibenik city Cathedral, a famous monument protected by the UNESCO organization. The cathedral has decorative heads showing Šibenik locals, one of which has a symbolic hat. This portrait is added to the cathedral in 1850. during renovation.
Šibenik hat as a souvenir
There is another portrait that has a very similar hat that was made during the construction phase in the 15th century. The hat also mentioned in official documents as early as the year 1500 and it is featured in many works of art.
The production of the hat began in the year 1880by the family Matavulj and their company, which produced the hats, parts of folk clothing, traditional pastries, and liqueurs. Tasty!
There are many similar hats in other cities in Šibenik's region, but Šibenik's is truly special. Be sure to buy it as a souvenirduring your stay in villa in Šibenik!
Foto: Etnoland Dalmati, MyLuxoria
