Short history of the Memorial Center “Nikola Tesla” Smiljan
Tesla was born into a parochial family, in a house next to the Orthodox Church of St. Peter and Paul, built in 1765, when it was most likely constructed as a parish rectory. Experts from the Conservation Institute of the Socialist Republic of Croatia restored the house in 1956, after which it became a Memorial Museum.
In 1964, the Memorial Museum came under the administration of the Lika Museum in Gospić, which for years worked on preserving this cultural asset, and in 1976 the entire Memorial Area was declared a cultural monument.
On the occasion of the 130th anniversary of Tesla’s birth, the Birthplace was reconstructed with the support of the Parliament of the Socialist Republic of Croatia and handed over in 1986 to the Lika Museum in Gospić as a museum facility.
The Nikola Tesla Memorial Area was registered as a cultural asset in 2005 and entered into the Register of Cultural Assets of the Republic of Croatia.
In 2006, the Presidency of the Croatian Parliament, at the proposal of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, proclaimed the Year of Tesla. The renovated birthplace, its new museum exhibition, the surrounding area and accompanying outdoor monuments, together with newly built facilities, form today’s Memorial Center “Nikola Tesla” Smiljan. It was opened on the 150th anniversary of Tesla’s birth, on July 10, 2006.
Visitor Offer – Memorial Center “Nikola Tesla” – Smiljan
The great inventor, physicist, and innovator was born on July 10, 1856, in the village of Smiljan, and his birthplace has been transformed into a memorial center. Alongside the interpretation of Tesla’s life, the center also presents the homeland with which Tesla identified, from which he came, and where he drew inspiration for his first inventions. The Memorial Center is the place where this great genius took his first steps toward the groundbreaking achievements that changed the entire world.
Tesla’s Experimental Station
A replica of Tesla’s Colorado Springs station (1899–1900), where he experimented with high-frequency currents, wireless energy transmission, and lightning, successfully sending signals to New York and lighting 200 lamps 40 km away.
Conference Hall
The conference hall is located within the multimedia space and is intended for meetings, conferences, and workshops. A documentary about Tesla’s life is shown in the hall after each demonstration in the experimental station.
Rest and Picnic Area
Next to Tesla’s birthplace, there are wooden benches and tables where visitors can relax and enjoy the view of the village of Smiljan – the place of Tesla’s early childhood.
Children’s Playground
To complete your experience of the Memorial Center, enjoy some fun at the children’s playground. The playground is open to visitors of all ages, at their own responsibility.
Souvenir Shop
Inside the multimedia center, there is a souvenir shop. If you want to keep a memory of the inventor Nikola Tesla and the Memorial Center, you can purchase from a variety of souvenirs. Among the many options, a special place is held by Tesla’s autobiography, My Inventions.
Guided Tours for Groups
Guided tours in Croatian or foreign languages are available for groups of 15 or more people.
Group visits must be booked in advance in writing.
Experience Tesla’s Life and Inventions
Driven by the desire to preserve the life and work of Nikola Tesla, the city of Gospić officially opened the Memorial Center “Nikola Tesla” in Smiljan in 2006, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Tesla’s birth on July 10.
The center was inaugurated by the President of the Republic of Croatia, the Prime Minister, and the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament.
The Memorial Center “Nikola Tesla” Smiljan consists of both historic and newly built structures. The historic structures include Tesla’s Birthplace, the Church of the Apostles St. Peter and Paul, an economic building (barn), stone monuments, and benches designed by architect Zdenko Kolacija.
The newly built structures include a porch, the experimental station, and a multimedia center with an adjacent children’s playground. At the entrance to the Birthplace, there is a stone marker showing locations where Nikola Tesla lived during his life, with directional signs indicating their distance from the Birthplace in kilometers.
Inside the Birthplace, a permanent multimedia exhibition has been created by the Croatian Historical Museum and the Technical Museum in Zagreb, coordinated by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia. The ground floor presents Tesla’s life and genius through images, words, and sound, integrating historical events into a chronological timeline. The attic features replicas of Tesla’s inventions, which forever changed the world and continue to serve as the foundation for the latest technologies.
The Experimental Station is a replica of Tesla’s Colorado Springs laboratory, where he stayed from 1899 to 1900. There he conducted numerous experiments with high-frequency currents, wireless energy transmission, and the study of lightning. He explored the transmission of information and energy over long distances without conductors. During his stay, he successfully transmitted signals to New York and lit 200 lamps located 40 miles away.
Presentations at the Experimental Station for individual visitors are held every hour on the hour.
Inside the Multimedia Center, there is a conference hall designed for meetings, conferences, and workshops. A documentary about Tesla’s life is shown in the hall after each demonstration at the Experimental Station. The center also features a souvenir shop where visitors can purchase keepsakes of the great inventor and his birthplace in Smiljan. The facility includes restroom facilities as well.
The Memorial Center “Nikola Tesla” Smiljan covers an area of 13,674 square meters.
A Brief History of Nikola Tesla’s Homeland
In the mid-19th century, the Croatian lands were fragmented and economically underdeveloped. The Croatian-Slavonian Military Frontier, including Smiljan, was directly governed by the Austrian military and settled with a population serving both agricultural and military roles. Families lived in extended household units, with men obligated to military service, literacy was low, and trade limited.
The Orthodox Church of St. Peter and Paul in Smiljan was built around 1764, and Milutin Tesla, Nikola Tesla’s father, served as parish priest from 1852 to 1863. The Frontier was gradually disbanded in the late 19th century, and by 1881 it was integrated into civilian Croatia and Slavonia. During these times of change, young Nikola Tesla was in Budapest, near his first invention.
Nikola Tesla – Inventor, Engineer, and Visionary
Nikola Tesla, inventor, electrical engineer, and physicist, was born on July 9/10, 1856, in Smiljan near Gospić, into an Orthodox family. His father, Milutin, was a priest, and his mother, Georgina (Đuka) Mandić, came from a family of inventors. Tesla had three sisters Milka, Angelina, and Marica and one brother, Dane.
He began his schooling in Smiljan, continued in Gospić, and completed his higher education in Karlovac. Tesla later studied at the Polytechnic School in Graz, Austria-Hungary, but left before completing his degree due to financial difficulties. He briefly worked in Maribor and Gospić and attempted to study in Prague before moving to Budapest, where he contributed to building the first telephone exchange.
Influenced by his mother’s inventiveness and his father’s mental exercises, Tesla developed extraordinary memory, critical thinking, and creativity. His early experiences shaped the genius that would revolutionize the world.
In 1883, while working in Strasbourg, he built his first induction motor. Moving to New York in 1884, he joined Edison’s company but soon left to start his own ventures. He later partnered with George Westinghouse, selling his alternating current (AC) patents, which laid the foundation for modern electricity distribution.
Tesla returned to Europe in 1889 and 1892, visiting his homeland, studying high-frequency currents, and inventing the Tesla coil. He demonstrated remote-controlled boats in 1898 and worked on wireless energy transmission at Colorado Springs in 1899. On Long Island, he attempted to build a wireless power system, though funding was cut by J.P. Morgan. Tesla continued inventing, creating a bladeless turbine in 1907 and developing innovations in mechanical engineering between 1910 and 1922.
His autobiography, My Inventions, was published in 1919. Tesla continued filing patents in diverse fields, from vacuum devices to vertical takeoff aircraft, and improving industrial processes. He received the Edison Medal in 1917, honorary doctorates from the University of Zagreb in 1926, and from the Polytechnic School in Graz and the University of Paris in 1937. Tesla lived mostly in hotels, passing away on January 7, 1943, in New York City at the age of 86.
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Lika is the homeland of one of the greatest inventors of all time, Nikola Tesla, and his birthplace in the village of Smiljan hosts the Nikola Tesla Memorial Center “Smiljan.”
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