The Vučedol Culture Museum

Opened in 2013, it is one of the most architecturally striking and intellectually rewarding archaeological museums in Croatia. Built into the Danubian bluffs at the original Vučedol archaeological site 4 km downstream from the city centre, the museum presents the story of the Vučedol culture (c. 3000–2200 BC) with exceptional clarity through original artefacts, reconstructed ritual and domestic spaces, and innovative multimedia displays. The centrepiece is the original Vučedol Dove — a ceramic vessel in the form of a stylised bird, decorated with incised geometric patterns and found at the Vučedol site in 1938. The vessel is dated to approximately 2800 BC and served a ritual function; it is now the symbol of both the museum and the city of Vukovar. The museum also presents the Vučedol Orion — the lunar calendar inscribed on a ceramic vessel and decoded in 1978 as the oldest known solar-lunar calendar in Europe (4 calendar sectors corresponding to the solstices and equinoxes, and the constellation of Orion used as a seasonal marker). The museum is open year-round; allow 2 hours. The museum is housed in the baroque Eltz Manor, which is horribly damaged from the war, but it is still in use. The museum has various exhibits to see. Many of the pieces are archaeological artifacts, including a right-footed ceramic shoe from several thousand years ago (Vučedol culture) that the museum staff seem to be particularly proud of. The museum also periodically exhibits paintings from the Bauer collection which is considered one of the more significant collections of Croatian modern art.