Mali Sakadaš Reception Centre

The reception centre of the Kopački Rit Nature Park at the Mali Sakadaš site is the central reception, information, interpretation, recreation and entertainment place. It includes all the services that a visitor needs for a safe, interesting, creative and educative trip to the park: an information centre, a modernly-equipped interpretation centre, a children’s theme park, themed trails, an area for socialising and toilet facilities.

The master working museological design prepared for the Mali Sakadaš reception centre is an interpretive, presentation, visual and financial elaboration project, which includes the initial interpretive planning in cooperation with the employees of the Kopački Rit Nature Park, a museological and museographical elaboration of thematic units, the defining of the thematic structure of the exhibition, the making of a plan of interpretation aids and programmes, the making of preliminary lists of desired exhibits, the complete design of the exhibition, interpretation media of the furnishings in a conceptual and working form, the writing of titles and interpretive texts, and the development of an action plan and preparation of a calculation of expenses.

The reception centre is the main complex infrastructure for the park’s visitors and is of extreme importance for the organisation of the work of the park’s guide service. As a creatively arranged and equipped informative, interpretive and presentation platform it enables the holding of various interpretive and educational programmes, particularly for children of pre-school and primary school ages, from various natural sciences and humanistic areas which include biology, geology, speleology, nature protection and ecology, ethnology and history. The Mali Sakadaš reception centre consists of six newly-designed buildings which interpret the traditional architecture: stilt houses, houses on the water with thatched roofs, and a suvara – a horse-powered mill, which are all interconnected by a walkway. Each of the stilt houses has its own purpose: a service building, an information centre with a reception area for visitors, a souvenir shop and projection hall, interpretation centres of the natural and cultural heritage of Kopački Rit and the last stilt house which has a catering purpose.

With its innovatively and creatively designed information and interpretation centres, children’s theme park, system of signalling panels and uniquely designed urban furniture, it communicates and reflects the value, uniqueness and beauty of the natural and cultural heritage of Kopački Rit to all of its visitors. The realisation of the Mali Sakadaš project began in 2014, and the visitor’s centre opened in 2015, whilst in the implementation we were only responsible for the museological coordination of the production, the development of the textual and visual content.