RIETAVA S MANOR ESTATE ENSEMBLE

In 2003 the ensemble entered into the register of immovable cultural heritage of Lithuania. It consists of a park, an office, fragments of the fence, the White and Red  Gates, a stable, the music school, a  musicians’ dormitory, a  brewery-washhouse, a mausoleum chapel, a watchman’s house and two houses, one of which is called “Kryzaunia”

THE RIETAVAS PARK

The park is one of the greatest cultural historical complexes in Lithuania. The mixed -style Rietavas manor park was established between 1848 and 1855 in a natural deliberately thinned-out forest. In 1904-1905 the ponds were dug in the territory. The park occupied an area of 60 hectares and it was surrounded by a two-meter-high fence.

ENSEMBLE OF BUILDINGS OF THE CHURCH OF ST.MICHAEL’S  ARCHANGEL 

In 1853 the old wooden church in the central part of the Duke Oginskis’s manor was dismantled  and the new one was begun to built along the central axis of duke Irenijus Oginskis. It was completed and consecrated in 1874. Called “the white swan”  by local residents, it remains  one of the main spiritual and aesthetic centres in the area.

MAUSOLEUM CHAPEL

The chapel was built on a low hill on the outskirts of the park. The members of the family were laid to rest in the chapel: Irenejus Oginskis’s wife Olga (in 1899) and his sons Mykolas( the owner of the Plunge manor,in 1902 in the northern wall ) and Bogdanas( the owner of the Rietavas manor,in 1909 in the southern wall ).

RIETAVAS MUSEUM OF HISTORY OF THE OGINSKIAI CULTURE

The museum was opened in 1995. It is located in one the restored buildings ( middle of the 19c.), which used to be a music school (1848-1909).

On arrival at Tverai, visit the St. Virgin Mary’s church. The first wooden church in Tverai was mentioned in written sources at the end of the  16th century. The present-day church was built in 1897.In 1907 behind the churchyard a brick two-level bell-tower was built. It is the largest wooden twin-steepled church in Lithuania, with an apse and six ornate altars.

It is worth to visit a hill-fort, a sacred place and a spring in Lopaiciai.

The hill-fort is located about 3 km to the East of Tverai, close to the road Tverai- Varniai. The entire historical complex, which is composed of the hill-fort(the site is thought  to be an ancient Samogitian sacred place),  mythological stones, a spring,  and  other archeological and geological formations.

Some of the most interesting objects at the Lopaiciai hill-fort include the so –called observatory, a dolmen(table-stone)a spring , the wisdom and fertility stones. Tourists are attracted to the stones,marked with the sign of either the moon or a ship, possibly marking the site of an oracle’s grave.

The Lopaiciai spring has 9 branches. This significant and mystical number for pagans confirms that this may have been a place sacred to them. It is believed that the spring water has healing properties. The Forestry of Rietavas Municipality did their best paving a new path in order tourists could easier reach the place.

SKROBLIS HILL-FORT

Skroblis hill-fort, also called Pilale, is located on the right bank of the Jūra river. The slopes are quite steep and reach a hight of 12-16 metres. The hill-fort has been dated to the 1st millennium BCE to the 13th century.The peak is oval and 2 metres higher than the rest part of the hill. On the eastern slope there is a triangular 13x17 m size terrace. It is believed that in the 13th century there used to stand a wooden castle with a cobbled paths to Rietavas side.

THERE ARE 4 STATE RESERVES IN RIETAVAS MUNICIPALITY

Upland wetlands nature reserve.It is the most  lively and mostly progressing swamp and swamp forest. Two mammal species are included onto the list of the Red Book.

Ruskis landscape nature reserve. It is established in 1974. The purpose of the nature reserve is to preserve the landscape of the lateral moraine formations that are characteristic of the Western Samogitian heights (210 m above the sea level).

Aitra hydrographic reserve is a shallow valley of the Aitra river .

Minija break reserve is protected as a picturesque river running through the moraine ,ridges

CHURCH OF THE MOST HOLLY TRINITY IN MEDINGENAI

The present-day wooden two-towered church was built in 1901-1902 in the neo-Gothic style. Valuable works of art decorate the church’s interior. The sculptures here are listed in the Register of Cultural properties of the Republic of Lithuania.

MONUMENT TO VYTAUTAS THE GREAT IN MEDINGENAI

The monument, built in 1936, stands in the centre of Medingenai next to the Church of the Most Holly Trinity. There is a bas-relief of Vytautas the Great on the front of the monument, a bear, the symbol of Samogitia, on the right, and the Crucified Christ and the pillars of Gediminas on the left.

CHURCH OF ST. PAUL THE APOSTLE IN SPRAUDE

It is a brick-and-plaster church with a steeple, vestibule and sacristies (built in 1939). The old trees indicate that there used to be a cemetery. Old people state that the place is sacred, as hundreds of years ago people used to pray under the old oaks.