The darkness tour
Led by a blind guide in complete dark.
Ex13 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Emilio J. Rodríguez Posada — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Emilio J. Rodríguez Posada — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Emilio J. Rodríguez Posada — CC BY-SA 4.0
Zagreb's Typhlological Museum is one of very few in the world devoted to the subject of blindness: the history of educating blind people, their equipment, the Braille system, and art produced by blind artists. Its founding rule is inverted from any other museum: the exhibits are made to be touched. Your hand passes over three-dimensional models of buildings and sculpture, over Braille texts, and over writing and measuring instruments designed for use without sight. The idea is to understand by experience rather than by reading. Its strongest element is a tour sometimes offered in complete darkness, led by a blind guide: you move through a prepared space relying on hearing and touch alone for some minutes, and the reversal is simple and powerful — the guide is the expert and you are the one lost. Check availability in advance, as it must be booked.
Led by a blind guide in complete dark.
Buildings and sculpture understood by hand.
Draskoviceva 80, 10000 Zagreb
The Basilica of the Sacred HeartThe Basilica of the Sacred Heart is a Jesuit church on Palmotićeva street in Zag4 minutes walk4.8
King Tomislav SquareThe first thing you see arriving in Zagreb by train is this square: it stretches5 minutes walk4.7
Zrinjevac & the Green HorseshoeZrinjevac is Zagreb's green salon: first garden of the Lenuci Horseshoe — seven 7 minutes walk4.9
The Lisinski Concert HallThe Vatroslav Lisinski hall is Croatia's principal concert venue, opened in 19738 minutes walk4.8
The Ibler Wooden SkyscraperA late-1930s residential building in central Zagreb by the architect Drago Ibler9 minutes walk4.7The word derives from the Greek typhlos, blind, and refers to the study of blindness and the education and rehabilitation of blind people. The term is common in central and eastern Europe and little known in English. The museum was founded in 1953 and is a research and teaching institution as well as a museum, working with schools and blind people's organisations across Croatia.