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 The status of the prayer house was revoked in 1958.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.

His real name is Albinas Vaitkus. He worked as the head of Pasvalys library in 1941, he made a significant contribution to the creation of the city’s cultural life. A modern exposition is dedicated to his memory in the library. It seems that it reflects the writer’s complicated life path, from his childhood in Gruzdžiai Village, wanderings around Pasvalys during the war years to his activities in exile. The exhibition includes the writer’s authentic books, a desk, a typewriter, a collection of pipes and many other items he used. The exhibition is interactive, games, puzzles, and quizzes are installed in the terminal. Educational sessions are available.

The drawing is dedicated to the Vileišiai brothers.

The identity of the Pasvalys region is inseparable from Vileišiai brothers, the famous revivers of Lithuanian spirit. Everyone has probably heard about these famous brothers, but few know that their childhood was spent in a small village in Pasvalys District – Mediniai.

These are two shapes embracing each other, symbolizing brotherhood, friendship, a certain connection in time. One shape represents the modern man, the youth, and is graphically colored. The other one reflects the past, history – the Vileišiai brothers. The inside of the latter shape is a part of the suit of one of the Vileišiai brothers, reproduced according to the available photo. The street art work itself is meant to be viewed from afar, so the best viewing spot is the other bank of the Lėvuo River.

The drawing is dedicated to the pilots of the Pasvalys region – Vytautas Lapėnas, Eugenijus Malinauskas, and Jonas Pyragis. The pilots who lived between the earth and the sky, between life and death, remained faithful to their passion – flying, all their lives.

A hawk that symbolizes the freedom of flight, looks as if split in half. The transition from natural colors to red is like a transition between life and death. Although these people are no longer among us, they have always been and will remain alive in our memories… The crumbling hawk feathers – stricter geometric shapes, resemble the wreckage of a crashed plane. When injured, the pilots usually rose like phoenixes, driven by the desire to feel the power of flight again and again… In the drawing, this is reflected by the transition of red into yellow.

The soaring hawk looks at the sky as the pilots – V. Lapėnas, E. Malinauskas, and J. Pyragius – once looked. When you look at a hawk, you can feel the freedom of flight and remember those without whom today is much more empty… 

The author of the drawing idea is the artist Tadas Šimkus (studio “Gyva grafika”).

The drawing is followed by the shadow of exile. A historical camera was selected, which the famous folk artist, photographer Vilhelmas Janiselis, hidden in a loaf of bread, took to Siberia and recorded the daily life of exiles there. Today, these photographs have become a documentary chronicle and have been declared a UNESCO heritage. The exile affected not one or two people, but the whole family… Therefore, the entire family of Janiseliai carries cameras – parents Vilhelmas and Matilda, children Aldona, Emilija, Algirdas, and Jonas. The images of all of them have been reproduced based on photographs taken in exile. The legendary camera is stored in the exposition of the Pasvalys Regional Museum. The author of the drawing idea is the artist Arminas Raugevičius (studio “Gyva grafika”).

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.