Museum
Nikola Tesla Memorial Centre, Smiljan
Gospić · Lika & Plitvice
QUICK INFORMATION
- CATEGORY
- Museum
- COUNTRY
- Croatia
- REGION
- Gospić · Lika & Plitvice
- DURATION
- 1–2 days
ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION
The Nikola Tesla Memorial Centre at Smiljan, seven kilometres from Gospić, is built around the birth house of the inventor, born here on 10 July 1856 in the village at the foot of Velebit. The restored house holds a multimedia museum exhibition on Tesla’s life and work, with demonstrations of his most famous inventions — the Tesla coil, alternating current, remote control — and the surrounding grounds carry his statue, the church where his father preached and the evocative “playground of inventions”. It is the most-visited cultural site in Lika and one of the most original small museums in Croatia.
HISTORY & BACKGROUND
The story behind it
Tesla was born in Smiljan in 1856, in the house beside the Orthodox church of St Peter and Paul built in 1765, where his father served as priest. The family moved to Gospić in 1863 after the death of Tesla’s elder brother, and the boy attended school in Gospić before continuing to Karlovac and on to Graz. The birth house was restored and opened as a memorial museum in 1956, came under the Museum of Lika in Gospić in 1964, and the whole memorial area was declared a protected cultural good, entered in the Registry of Cultural Goods of Croatia in 2005. The present-day centre — restored house, new exhibition and surrounding monuments — was opened on 10 July 2006, the 150th anniversary of Tesla’s birth.
WHAT TO SEE
What to see here
The restored birth house with its multimedia exhibition on Tesla’s life and inventions.
The statue of Tesla and the playground of inventions in the memorial grounds.
Working demonstrations of the Tesla coil and alternating-current experiments.
The church of St Peter and Paul, the parish of Tesla’s father, at the edge of the grounds.
GOOD TO KNOW
Facts & Curiosities
Tesla was born at midnight between 9 and 10 July 1856, during a fierce lightning storm his mother read as an omen — “He will be a child of light”.
The unit of magnetic flux density, the tesla, is named after him; the SI unit was adopted in 1960.
The centre occupies the restored birth house beside the 1765 Orthodox church where Tesla’s father was parish priest.
Tesla spoke eight languages and held around 300 patents worldwide; three Nobel Prizes were awarded for work building on his discoveries.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why it matters
Smiljan is the birthplace of one of the most influential inventors in modern history, and the memorial centre turns that fact into a hands-on museum rather than a plaque on a wall. For a visitor it is the reason Gospić belongs on the itinerary — an hour or two of genuine science history in a village setting.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before you go
THROUGH THE LENS
From the road
MAP & LOCATION
Nikola Tesla Memorial Centre, Smiljan
Nikola Tesla Memorial Centre, Smiljan, Gospić, Lika & Plitvice, Croatia
44.5597, 15.3097
MORE ATTRACTIONS
More to see in Gospić
THINGS TO DO
Things to do nearby
FOOD & DRINK
Where to eat nearby
Lika konobas in Gospić — lamb under the bell, potato “under the bell” and škripavac cheese
Town-centre restaurants and bakeries along the main street
HOTELS & STAYS
Where to stay nearby
Hotels and guesthouses in Gospić town centre
Rural accommodation and camps in the Plitvice hinterland (see Camping in Lika)
NEARBY DESTINATIONS
Continue the journey
PART OF
Keep exploring
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