Markutiskės Park is located about 1 km from the highway Jonava – Ukmergė, about 20 m from the road Upninkai – Bukonys. The park covers an area of ​​7 hectares. It is a natural monument of local significance. It is a mixed type, planted in the 19th century. Local and imported species of trees and shrubs grow here. A total of 50 species of plants are counted: 21 – native, 29 – imported tree and shrub varieties. Six Weimuth pines and 32 European larch trees are mentioned. The pride of the park is the blue-throated peacock. The park also grows 22 m high linden, rich in maple species, dominated by perennial linden.

There are now 6 ponds in the park. The right tributary of the Neris, the Loke, flows through two of them. A beautiful dam and a falling waterfall give the park landscape a mystery. The park is peaceful.

Multi-coloured geniuses, nightingales, crows, thrushes and breeding owls live here. Bridges were built over the resulting island. Two mounds adorn the landscape of the park.

The park is supervised, visited by vacationers, tourists and excursions. You can go boating, fishing and swimming. The water in the Loki stream is cold. Wild ducks, white swans and wild geese breed in the dam ponds. The shores of the ponds are rich in blue reeds, and colonies of white and yellow lilies bloom in summer. Crayfish, pearls, perch and ropes live in Loke stream. Pikes are caught in the ponds. The park area is surrounded by surviving lime alley paths that extend from the west side and surround the park to the northeast.

The park is visited by tourists, guests and vacationers and project activities take place in it.

The buildings of Markutiškės manor were erected in the 19th century. The whole complex consisted of a wooden two-headed central building, outbuildings, stables, a winter garden and a water mill. The manor was ruled by the landowners Okuliciai. The owner of the manor himself worked in Jonava, in the bank. The landlords also had houses in Kaunas. There was never a shortage of guests at the palace, and various receptions took place. The landlord took care of the winter garden.

As the Soviet occupation approached, in 1939, the owners settled in Kaunas, and the manor was taken care of by the neighbours living in Pupkuliai. The further fate of the landowners is unknown, after the restoration of Lithuania’s independence, no applicants for property ownership appeared.

During the post-war period, in 1946, a machine-tractor station (MTS) was established in the territory of the manor, which was later reorganized into the Land Reclamation Board (MSV). During 1964-1970, the reclamators of the board carried out reclamation works in our country. Markutiskses district and Markutiskes post office were located in one of the manor buildings. There was a library, shop and culture house in the farm buildings. The watermill stopped spinning around 1960. Near the entrance to the manor (at the crossroads) stood a stone cross (believed to have been built by gentlemen). After the establishment of the MTS, the cross was ordered to be demolished. This was done by one tractor driver who, if we believed people’s stories, later became blind.

In the 1990s, MSV moved to Jonava, but built a new wooden cross for the people of our country. MSV made a significant contribution to the preservation of the landscape of Markutiskės Park – it paved the tracks, maintained and nurtured the vegetation. Reclamation festivals and other events took place there.

Milagainiai manor was located about 200 m from the road Upininkai – Bukonys. He owned about 200 hectares of a good land and there worked many mercenaries. The history of the manor is believed to date back to the beginning of the 19th century.

In 1995, there were the manor buildings left: a central wooden house, a caretaker’s house, a servants’ house, barns, stables, a forge, a barn, a mill, and three houses of a cumin. According to people’s stories, before the war, the manor was ruled by a generation of lords Kozėlai. The manor was strong economically and had a vodka monopoly. The further fate of the gentlemen is unknown.

After the war, in 1946, the Milagainiai primary school was established in the manor house.

In addition, when the collective farms started to develop, there was an office, a library, a shop, and teachers lived there.

This building no longer exists; the manor house is reminiscent of the guardian’s house, the remains of the servants’ house, the barns, the mill, the stables, and the two cumin buildings. The territory of the manor is still decorated with a linden alley and a garden.

It is the location of the manor that belonged the family of Radzivonai, about 1 km west of the town of Panoteriai, by the Panoteriai-Milagainiai road. It is believed to have been founded by a Russian count in the second part of the 19th century. With the outbreak of Paul I, he withdrew to Russia and did not return after the war because there was no Russian province left. At the end of the war, members of the Radziwill family bought the manor. However, to be able to pay for it, the old Radziwill went to Argentina and worked in the coalmines. I will settle completely with the banks, the manor is left to the son.

The name of the place is thought to be related to food because the gentlemen were not stingy and the foals stained the fat with bread.

The area of ​​the manor is about 140 ha of arable and meadowland, 30 ha of the forest. The residential building was wooden with two ends and a porch. The outbuildings were carved out of clay, because there was a clay deposit near the manor, where mercenaries made bricks by hand, and the place was called a brickyard. The barn was built by the old owner of the manor in 1900–1905.

On June 14, 1941, the Radziwon and their two daughters were deported to Siberia. The gentleman was killed, one of the daughters died in the exile. Mrs. Radzivoniene returned from the exile in about 1970 and lived in Kaunas. In 1990, she and her daughter Nijole and her family moved to Taukadaziai. He arranged the manor and started farming. The lady of the manor died in 2003 and was buried in the Panoteriai cemetery.

The territory of Panoteriai manor is located in the economic zone of the present town of Panoteriai, 300 meters northwest of the road Panoteriai – Siesikai.

The Panoteriai manor and field were first mentioned in the Lithuanian archives in 1597. It is believed that at the beginning of the seventeenth century, the manor was ruled by Mr. Taras, who led the battles in this place with the Crusaders, and hence the place name was named in his honour.

In the 19th century the manor owned 10 walks (about 210 ha) of land and was ruled by the nobles Domeikos. The last supervisor of the manor was Antanas Domeika, a well-mannered and ordinary man. His father lived in Germany, so Antanas was fluent in German. In addition, he was interested in medicine and treated local people. It is believed that A. Domeika comes from the famous Domeikai-Kontrymų nobility family.

The economic affairs of the Panoteriai manor were managed by his wife, who liked to sue the neighbours for berries, mushrooms in the manor forests, and the appearance of animals in the manor lands. The lady was quite cruel to the mercenaries – while they were working in the fields, Mrs. Domeikiene showed up with a flock of dogs and supervised their work.

Domeikos twice retreated from their home. After World War I, Domeikos retreated to the depths of Russia. In 1915, the Panoteriai Primary School was relocated from Pasoda village to their manor and operated here until 1919, when the gentlemen returned from exile. The Domeikos left their home for the second time on June 14, 1941, after the deportations to Siberia began. According to the people’s stories, both gentlemen died in exile. The son and daughter, returning from exile, lived in Kaunas.

After the war, there was a milk reception point in the manor, and the builders of the collective farm repaired the farm buildings, the barn and the barn, which are still in use today. There is no dairy, on the site of the manor in 1986. A 2,000-ton grain warehouse and dryer were built.

According to the existing regulations of the Lithuanian heritage objects, each wooden building, which was built before 1954, belongs to the group of wooden architecture. During World War II, at the end of July 1944, the buildings of the Panoteriai village and town territory were demolished and burned down, as the 3rd Belarusian Front of the Soviet Army passed through our territories towards Žeimiai, hereinafter – towards Raseiniai.

The wooden building of the parish, wooden schools, mill buildings, several residential houses and outbuildings of the manor have survived. People have still been living in the remained wooden houses today. The oldest house is about 140 years old. The windmill was demolished in 1970, but the remaining farm buildings of the manor: bar and brick barn. Grain is now kept in them, and animals spend winters in the barn.

Wooden school building (old building)

This two-storey wooden building was one of two such buildings present in Lithuania. It was built in 1935. Following the initiative of J. Svegzda, the head of the Panoteriai parish, there were invited the carpenters of the parish who would live there. These were Russians, who moved to our country in the second half of the 18th century, as Catherine II deported the Old Believers to the outskirts of the provinces. Thus, the people of Russian nationality settled in the Panoteriai region, whose relatives have been living there and today. In 1935, the wooden school building housed four grades of the primary school and 5-6 grades of the progymnasium. On the second floor, the premises were intended to the accommodation of teachers.

The teachers, who happened to work in this building: O. J. Sibaila (1930–1934; J. Sibaila was an active participant in the Lithuanian partisan movement after the Germans left in 1944), poet, patriot Benediktas Kiskis, teachers O. P. Salucka (1938–1941), who  were deported to Siberia on June 14,  1941. Since 1956, the former county building housed the already growing secondary level classes of the Panoteriai Secondary School, which accommodated up to 200 children. In 1967, after the construction of the new brick building, the library, technology rooms, and chemistry-biology rooms remained in the old one. Until the 2000s, lessons were held there. The building was then sold. In 2019, the second floor burned during the fire.

Panoteriai district in 1919–1950

History of the Panoteriai district-county building

The history of Panoteriai parish began in 1919, when the administrative-territorial division took place after the restoration of Independent Lithuania. In 1919–1950, Panoteriai parish belonged to Ukmerge County. During 1950–1963, Panoteriai became the centre of the county, belonging to Ukmerge district/county. Since 1963, the county moved to Markutiskės village, and Panoteriai became a part of Markutiskės County. The administrative building of the former parish was built in 1920. It was staffed by the county administration, headed by an elected head.

After the area had moved to other premises, the Panoteriai school classrooms were moved to them, and primary school sets worked there, because the children did not fit in the wooden schoolhouse. In 1967, the building housed a school dormitory, which provided services until 1994. Later, the part of the house became private, and another part was equipped with two social apartments.

It consists of the former old church built in 1946. At present, it has turned into a chapel where services are held in the cold season. The new church building, erected in 1994. The rectory of the 1989 construction and churchyard.

Church history

The first church in Panoteriai was built in 1441. From 1584 to 1700, it would belong to evangelical reformers. Panoteriai Church belongs to fifty oldest churches in Lithuania. Before the war, the parish had 3,000 believers. On September 22, 1941, the church presumably burned from a candle. A temporary church was installed in the place of the hospital. However, on July 27, 1944, it burned from the incendiary bullets. During 1944–1946, the premises for the church were rented in V. Brimeriene’s house, and a house for prayers was built on the site of the hospital: half of it was dedicated to the church and another half to the rectory.

On April 5, 1989, under the pastor of priest Vytautas Kazimieras Pesliakas, a permit was received from the then Council of Ministers for the construction of a new church. It was the first church built after the restoration of the Lithuania’s independent state, consecrated on August 21, 1994.

The project was prepared for the church by Kaunas architect Birutė Kugevičienė. The building is in neo-Gothic modern style, with two towers at the front and one at the altar. The roof is covered with red painted tin. The whole church is built of yellow brick, not plastered on the outside, with an arched ceiling, is square, three naves.

The decoration of the church is stained glass. The large ones – above the central entrance, between the towers – and two stained glass windows on both sides of the altar were created by stained glass artist N. Baginskiene. Their acquisition was financed by the joint-stock company Achema. The side stained glass windows are based on biblical scenes from the mysteries of the rosary (13 “windows” according to the illustrations in the book “Mary’s Rosary”).

The interior of the church is made of natural wood. On the altar of the right nave is a picture depicting St. Joseph. This painting is included in the list of cultural values ​​to be protected.

The old church, now known as the Chapel for 25 years, hosts services during winter. It is also equipped with tasteful stained glass windows, created by the student of the famous stained glass master M.Usinskas, if we are not mistaken, in the surname J. Laurinaitis.

The most suitable place for the central square of Panoteriai town was in front of the church. When the gentlemen came to the Mass, the farmers built chariots and carts in it. According to people’s stories, before World War I, the square was bustling with parish markets where farmers traded their produce. In 1946, a wooden house for farmers deported to Siberia, which housed a library-house of culture was brought to the square from Boreišiai village. Until 2008, it hosted various cultural events.

The town centre also recalls difficult and cruel times. After trips to the villages of Panoteriai parish to recruit farmers to the collective farms, the strips laid the bodies of the shot people in the square so that the passing and passing people could see what awaited them if they did not agree to join the collective farms. No matter how diligently the bodies were protected, they disappeared after the night – they were taken by relatives and buried.

Sports competitions and trainings took place in the undeveloped meadow, because until 1967 the Panoteriai School did not have a gym. 1982 a concert hall was presented next to the old house of culture. Three years later, a building erected in the square, which housed an outpatient clinic and a library. 2006 the wooden building of the House of Culture was demolished, and the community house of the Panoteriai region of Jonava district was located in a brick building built on the same foundations.

In 2018, the town square and the state flags were hoisted in the central square in September, which are hoisted every year in September. Today, guests are welcomed in this square from there sightseeing tours begin.