Love for the Homeland begins in the backyard (Part II)

In the vicinity of Panoteriai

The community of Panoteriai invites you to get acquainted with the history of the town of Panoteriai, to choose a sightseeing route through the manor houses, to take a trip down the path of the playwright Petras Vaičiūnas, etc.

The town itself has a number of tourist attractions. One of them is the territory of the former manor house, located 300 m north-west in the direction of Siesiki. The manor is mentioned in the Lithuanian archives in 1597. The last governor of the manor was Antanas Domeika, a simple, good-natured man who was interested in medicine and treated people. His wife, who managed the estate’s economic affairs, often litigated with neighbours who dared to pick berries or mushrooms in the estate’s forests, was ruthless with mercenaries, and did not look after those working in the fields alone, but appeared with a pack of dogs.

The town square of Panoteriai has a history of its own, where the flags of the town and the state have been flying since 2018, and are raised every year in September. Before the First World War, the square was bustling with markets, with carts and carriages of merchants and believers filling the vacant spaces. In the post-war period, after the outbreak of the struggle for the freedom of Lithuania, the square witnessed the bodies of the murdered and heard the moans of the local population. The ensemble of the Church of the Revelation of the Holy Cross – the chapel, where prayers are said during the cold season, the rectory, the new house of worship built in 1994 and the churchyard – adds grandeur to today’s Panoteriai.

The Panotherians can be justifiably proud of the fact that this was the first church built after the restoration of Lithuanian independence. Walking along this route, you will stop at the building of the Panoteriai parish-district and hear its interesting history.