Places to visit in the city of Pasvaly

A wooden Orthodox church was built in Pasvalys with treasury funds in 1903. Services were held here intermittently until 1948, when the liturgical items were removed and grain was poured into the building. The status of the prayer house was revoked in 1958. The dilapidated church sadly stood until 1978. Then the Pasvalys brass band club “Dūdorius” set up its premises there. German soldiers were buried in the churchyard during the First World War, but their graves were destroyed during the Soviet era. Later, ethnographic valuables collected from disappearing villages were brought to the church. Some of the roofed poles and wayside shrines are still preserved here today.

It is said that in the late 15th century the Bishop of Vilnius received complaints from the residents of Pasvalys that they were missing out on many graces because they were forced to travel to church far and rarely. Therefore, on 06 December 1497 the Grand Duke Aleksandras of Lithuania issued a privilege allowing the construction of a church in Pasvalys at the confluence of Lėvuo and Svalia rivers. This was the beginning of the history of the city. The current shrine in this place is already the third, built in 1787, and acquired its present appearance in 1887 after two towers and side naves were added.The church was consecrated by Motiejus Valančius, the Bishop of Lowlands, in 1851. The church has features of baroque and historicism. After leaving the church through its gate, you will be greeted by seven sculptures – angels: of Hope, of Life, of Fishermen, of Sorrow, of Humility, for Everyone, and of Speech.

For almost a hundred years, Pasvalys was a railway town. Passenger and freight wagons rolled along the narrow tracks. In the 1940s, the deportation of the people of the Pasvalys region into exile to Siberia began here. They were taken away in cattle wagons. The tragedy is commemorated by a memorial square. The composition was created by the sculptor Valius Remeika.

Six Lithuanian soldiers who died in the struggle for independence in 1919-1920 are buried in the grave. In honor of the fallen Pasvalys Riflemen built a tombstone – cross of pink granite in 1937. After the beginning of the Revival, in 1988 and later, this place was an emotional hotbed of patriotism. Processions from the church travelled to the cemetery, national holidays were celebrated at the grave, and volunteers gave an oath to the restored state of Lithuania. You will find the soldiers’ grave after a short walk along the main path, on the left side, it is surrounded by a high metal fence. The city of Pasvalys and its surroundings were defended from the Bolsheviks in 1919 by the legendary “death battalion” of the Joniškėlis partisans, which later grew into the 9th infantry regiment of the Lithuanian army. It is the soldiers of this regiment who rest in the cemetery.

From the very beginning, the city center was bustling with life – there was a market square and shops. Over the centuries, the streets running into the square have formed a unique urban plan, which today is recognized as an urban heritage. On the outskirts of the square, there are preserved buildings from the early 20th century  and a narrow stone-paved street leading past the red-brick hospital to the site of the old wooden bridge.

People of Jewish nationality who lived in the city of Pasvalys and its vicinity were buried in this place for several centuries. After the destruction of the Jewish community during the Holocaust in 1941, the use of cemetery stopped. During the Soviet era, they were destroyed, only a few fragments of the former tombstones remained. After the restoration of Lithuania’s independence, a monument was built at the site of the cemetery. Today, it is the territory of the Svalia Valley Park.

“For this day to be immortalized, everyone will bring something for the roadside monuments. Stone by stone, same as our captivity, we will pile them up to build an altar… Maybe a bag of soil – to build the mound according to the ancient custom… Maybe a cross…” (Writer Kazys Saja, 17 August 1989).

The first crosses were erected here by the people of Pasvalys, Joniškėlis, neighbors from Pakruojis, guests from Kretinga, Akmenė, and Mosėdis on 23 August 1989, the day of the Baltic Road campaign. This is how they gave meaning to their determination to seek freedom. Later crosses were erected here to commemorate various important occasions. 14 crosses stand in the valley today.