Cravaticum – Boutique Museum of the Cravat

Cravaticum is a boutique museum in Zagreb dedicated to the cravat, the necktie’s predecessor. It showcases the cravat’s history from its 17th-century origins to its global influence, featuring interactive exhibits and historical artifacts.

Planning your visit

The necktie is Croatian. Croatian mercenaries serving in France during the Thirty Years War wore knotted neckcloths that struck Parisians as stylish, and the French adopted them under the name cravate — a corruption of Hrvat, meaning Croat. The word survives in most European languages, and Croatia observes Cravat Day each October.

Cravaticum in Zagreb covers that history from the seventeenth-century origins through the evolution into the modern tie, the changing knots and widths, and the garment's role in signalling class, profession and allegiance.

Interactive exhibits and historical pieces fill a small boutique space, and the museum sits alongside the shops selling Croatian-made ties that trade on the connection.

It is small — half an hour — and it works best as one stop among Zagreb's several idiosyncratic small museums, which include the Museum of Broken Relationships and the Museum of Hangovers.

Bookable options are entry tickets. Current availability is shown below.