Hum Parish Church (Church of the Assumption of Mary)

The Parish Church of the Assumption of Mary stands inside the walls of Hum, the tiny hilltop town in central Istria, in Croatia, that is often called the smallest town in the world, one of Croatia’s most unusual places. It is the church of a community of only a few dozen people, and it stands at the end of the town’s single main lane, making it the natural focal point of the settlement.

Built in the early nineteenth century, the present building is the newest of the town’s sacred sites. It was built in 1802 on the site of an older, medieval church, as the community replaced a smaller, worn-out building with a larger and more fashionable one, and its style is a mixture of Classicist and Baroque elements. The façade is plain and orderly, in the Classicist manner, with straight lines and a simple pediment, while the interior is more decorative. A single nave leads to the altar, with several altars of marble along the walls, each with its own carvings and decoration, and in this the church follows the Baroque habit of filling a small space with richness.

A highlight is the painting in the apse, attributed to the Venetian artist Baldessare d’Anna and dated around 1600. It is an older work than the church itself and is thought to have come from the earlier building, which gives the interior a sense of continuity with the town’s past. Venetian painters supplied many churches in Istria and Dalmatia during the centuries of Venetian rule, and the painting is a reminder of how closely the peninsula was linked to the lagoon city.

Hum’s importance for Croatian culture goes beyond one church. The town stands on the Glagolitic Alley, a path of about seven kilometres linking Hum with the village of Roč, lined with monuments that celebrate the Glagolitic script, the old Slavic alphabet that was used for church writing in Istria for centuries. Hum is traditionally a place where Glagolitic priests worked and where inscriptions of great age have been found, so the church and the surrounding area are part of a larger story of language and faith. The cemetery and chapel outside the walls and the Town Gate are close by.

The church is small, and a visit takes only about fifteen minutes. It is free to enter and generally open during daylight, though it is a place of worship, so dress modestly and keep quiet during services. It suits Istrian history lovers, visitors interested in religious art, in Glagolitic heritage and in the unusual character of Hum. Combine it with a walk around the walls and a taste of the local mistletoe brandy, biska.