Let's discover Croatia
Hum
No, Hum is not an onomatopoeia but the name of the smallest city in the world. It is located in the region of Istria, between pretty villages and seaside towns. This tiny town has only 21 inhabitants but nevertheless shows remarkable charisma. Only 40 km from Rijeka and 80 km from Pula, this small town is the perfect stop for getting from Rijeka to Pula or vice versa. I went to Hum with my Erasmus friends by train. We plan to go to Hum and then go to Rijeka in the same day. The train dropped us off 3 km from Hum, so we had to walk to Hum from the train stop, a 20-minute walk.
Once we got to Hum we discovered the splendor of the city.
Visitors who venture here often only need half an hour to visit the town of Hum. And yet, do not believe that it is completely devoid of charm, on the contrary! The entrance to the village is surrounded by a massive double door with a welcome message written on it: "Come and visit us in this little town, on the hard stone, the mud heat." On an incredible small surface are the components of a city: the city lodges, the houses of nobles and simple inhabitants, a café-restaurant and the parish church with the residence of the parish priest. The church was built in the 12th century and has precious 12th century frescoes. Hum is also famous for its Glagolitic avenue and its museum with ancient documents written in Glagolitic (ancient Slavic alphabet).
The city of Hum has the glorious title of "the smallest city in the world" in the legendary Guinness Records. According to local legend, it was giants who were responsible for building Istria. Once the region was made, they only had a few stones left with which they decided to build Hum. We were very fortunate that there weren't many tourists on the day of our visit. So we were able to visit the city with in total peace. After visiting the city, we went to eat in the only restaurant of the city: Humska konoba ("Hum Tavern" in English). It is a small restaurant whose cuisine is typical of the region. The restaurant terrace offers breathtaking views of the Istrian mountains. The food is homemade, local and authentic. The meal was delicious and very generous. For my part, I chose a gulaš maneštra (a beef stew) accompanied by gnocchi, followed by krostule (shortcrust folded in the shape of a knot, fried and covered with icing sugar) as dessert.