Places to visit in Pasval district

The mound is located at the confluence of two rivers. It is surrounded by Tatula river from the north, and the Ūgė river from the south and southwest. The mound site is triangular, about 60 m long, the site is surrounded by the remains of defensive ramparts. Side slopes about 9 m high, almost perpendicular, eroded by river flows.  The mound was built and inhabited in the 9th-11th centuries. The wooden castle of the Žimegaliai that stood here was part of the defense system of Northern Lithuania. Archaeological research has shown that the buildings had stone ovens, a sand layer floor, and a stone-paved courtyard. The sources of the 13th century do not mention Ąžuolpamūšė mound, but people still lived here, as there is a cemetery nearby. After the German order conquered Žiemgala in the late 13th century, the last inhabitants abandoned this land and the life in Ąžuolpamūšė came to an end. 

Legends. One legend tells that there was a mansion on the hill, which vanished beneath the surface of the earth. On the first Easter day, the nobleman who lived here kicked his serfs to plow the land. After they returned from work, they the mansion was not there. Now two girls come out every night, going down the stairs to the water and rinse napkins and plates. Once the roosters crow, they would disappear right away. As they pass the mountain, people listen uneasily when they hear roosters crowing, scythes beating, and bells ringing underground.

Another legend testifies that once upon a time men were herding horses in during night grazing and sitting by a fire next to the mound. Suddenly, a handsome gentleman with a cane came down from the mountain, said hello and sat down to warm himself. One man offered him snuff tobacco. The man took it, but he didn’t sniff it through his nose, but took it in his mouth. Then the men saw that his nose was without nostrils. When the roosters crowed, the gentleman got up and walked back up the hill. Soon there was a crash and the men were suddenly doused with water. In this way, the mound defended itself from the vandals and protected its secrets with various intimidating things.

The mill has been standing on the bank of Lėvuo river since 1764. It is one of the oldest water mills in Lithuania. In those days, there were three millstones and a wool carding mill.

During the Soviet era, the mill was abandoned, the roof collapsed, and the stone masonry walls began to crumble. It was rebuilt by the Pasvalys Reclamation Construction Board in 1980s, and a ballroom was installed. The building is currently owned by a private individual. In the vicinity of the mill, there is an exposition of ancient farm equipment and ethnographic household items. The guest house, space for family festivals and other celebrations invites you to stop by.

The first bridge in this place was very different from the current one. It was wooden, built in 1920. The adopted name of the “Freedom” bridge has been firmly established in the minds of local residents for a long time. The wooden bridge stood only for six years. The swift and watery Mūša River constantly destroyed the wooden parts, and ice jams threatened to collapse the bridge every spring. The ice flow reached the lower parts of the bridge and severely damaged the structures. The bridge buckled and it became dangerous to drive on it.

The new reinforced ­concrete bridge that connected the banks of Mūša became a symbol of Ustukiai village in 1928. This is one of the most beautiful structures in Pasvalys region.­ It was designed by Pranas Markūnas from Anykščiai. ­President Antanas Smetona took part in the ­opening ceremony of the bridge on 10 August 1928. The bridge was named after him. At the initiative of the Ustukiai community, the national flag of Lithuania is constantly flying over the bridge.

The bridge was built in 1929. It was brought in parts from Kaunas. Two steel trusses from Kaunas Panemunė bridge that collapsed in 1928 were used for the construction of the bridge, and the third was made in Lithuania.

In order to commemorate the tragic feat of the transatlantic pilots Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas, the Saločiai bridge was given the name of Darius and Girėnas in 1933.

An attempt was made to blow up the bridge during the war in 1944, but only its wooden parts burned. Later, no one looked after the bridge anymore, heavy machines and tractors destroyed the wooden pavement. The bridge was reconstructed in 1997, no authentic wooden pavement remained, but pedestrians still walk on wooden sidewalks of the bridge.

On the initiative of Jeronimas Šarkevičius, the parson of Krinčinas, and Karpiai, the local landowners of Baluškiai, and with the donations of the surrounding people, the construction of a brick chapel, much larger than the old wooden one, began in 1750. There was no permission to build a prayer house, so it was a serious violation. Only in 1782 the Pope himself signed such a document.

The church built in 1803 has baroque and classicism features. It is believed that the sculpture of Jesus of Nazareth in the high altar of the church has magic powers – it heals the most seriously ill.

Daujėnai Pentecost is celebrated every year – the church festival of this region that have been around for more than a century. Pentecost church festival lasted the whole week, worshipers came even from Žemaitija. The most pious ones used to crawl several kilometers to the church on their knees. To this day, many people come to the church festival not only from Pasvalys, the natives, who spread all over Lithuania, return!

The first church is mentioned in 1585. The second was built in 1611 by Dimitrijus Kurbskis who fled from the Russian tsar. It was given 7 voloks of land with serfs. A parish school was established in 1611. The inventory already mentions the new church of Krinčinas in 1736. It was looted by rebels of Kosciuška in 1794.

The current church was built in 1782 under the care of provost Jonas Jeronimas Šarkevičius. Poet Antanas Vienažindys (1841–1892) was vicar here for six years.

The church is of late baroque style with rectangular plan, basilican, and has two towers. Interior of 3 naves. There are 5 altars. A belfry of historic forms stands in the churchyard.

The mound stands near the old road from Pasvalys to Joniškėlis, on the right bank of the Mūša River, at the confluence with the Pušynė Stream. Located on a hill, the slopes are steep, 7-10 meters high, at the top there is a site with a diameter of about 30 meters, surrounded by a well-preserved embankment. Pušynės stream is visible today only in early spring, then it hides in the grass. But the deep valley through which it flows into the Mūša testifies to the existence of a watery river that was present in the past. Water surrounded the mound on three sides and was a natural natural obstacle for the enemy. And the western part was protected by a defensive ditch, it remained about 90 meters long. In the past, the mountain was undoubtedly higher, eroded by plowing and nature, but it has retained its original shape quite well.

It is believed that the mound was built in the 9th century, a wooden castle was built to protect the Žimegali settlement, and later it was part of the defense system of northern Lithuania. As the pressure of the German order intensified in the second half of the 13th century, Žiemgaliai abandoned their lands. It was probably then that life in the vicinity and the mound of Šimoniai finally collapsed. In the 1930s, farmers accidentally found two treasures while working the land near Migoniai mound: brass and silver items of 6th-7th centuries.

Legends. There used to be a pit on the site of the Migonys mound. While retreating, the Swedes hid their weapons there and covered it with soil. The top of the mountain used to be a peak, and on the west side there was an exit, of which, unfortunately, there are no signs anymore. It is also said that Swedes defeated by Lithuanians or even the Swedish king himself with his crown are buried on the mountain. Swedish soldiers poured this mountain with their hats as a tribute to the king.

The legend testifies that a cruel lord built a palace on the mountain. The serfs worked on his estate all day, while the children and elders who stayed at home had to weave sieves and twist ropes for the master. He tortured the disobedient or exchanged them for a horse or a dog. The gentleman died, but it did not get any easier for people. For three years, they fulfilled the last wish of the deceased: they poured a high mountain on his grave with hats. Eventually they placed a red-brimmed gentleman’s hat, a sign of power and honor, at the top. Over the years, the hat has disappeared under the soil. The lord’s manor also collapsed, a lake appeared in its place, which later dried up and gave start to the Sindriūnai Village.

Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė (1861–1943), writer, publicist, and educator, spent almost 40 years of her life in Joniškėlis. It was the period of the town’s cultural rise, the prosperity of Lithuania, when the most prominent personalities of the Lithuanian nation of that time arrived to town.

G. Petkevičaitė was born in Puziniškis manor (Panevėžys District), in a family of intelligentsia nobles. The writer’s father, Jonas Leonas Petkevičius, practiced as a doctor, and her mother, Malvina Chodakauskaitė, graduated from the Vilnius ­Gymnasium. Petkevičius was appointed head of the Joniškėlis hospital in 1865 and moved here with his large family. Gabrielė was taught by the famous Lithuanian linguist and journalist Laurynas Ivinskis for two years (1866–1868).

G. Petkevičaitė was elected to the Constituent Seimas of Lithuania in 1920. As the oldest member of the Seimas, she had the honor of presiding over the first session. She even took part in the Lithuanian presidential elections, being the first female candidate. Joniškėlis gymnasium is named after her.

After the defeat during the uprising against tsarist Russia in 1863, families of Russian colonists were settled in Lithuanian villages. An Orthodox community was established in the village of Gegabrasta. It had its own school, cemetery, and built a cozy house of prayer – a small wooden church in the late 19th century. Bright yellow with even brighter green domes, the sanctuary shines romantically in the tranquillity of the pine forest. There is no longer a Russian community in the village of Gegabrasta, but the church is functioning, the titular church festival is held every year in May, believers from all over the region of Panevėžys come to it.

In the thick of the forest is hidden the centuries old yellow shrine. It is difficult to trace its history because it is studied very little. Historical sources testify that the chapel was built in 1736. Damaged, destroyed, and rebuilt many times. Once a year – on the last Sunday of August – the chapel comes alive and invites you to the church festival of St. Augustine. Lithuanian partisans are buried in the churchyard.

It is believed that a small church could have stood in Pumpėnai in the first half of the 17th century. However, the information is more accurate that landowners Jurgis and Povilas Zavadskiai settled Carmelite monks in the town and built a prayer house for them no later than 1665. The sanctuary and the entire monastery complex burned down in 1770. Not long after, in 1797, the disaster happened again – the buildings, rebuilt from the funds of the monks, burned down. The time has come to have a brick church in Pumpėnai. In order for the parishioners to gather for prayer, the Carmelites set up a temporary structure made of clay covered with straw (šopa). Finally the current stone and brick church was completed in 1818. At that time, 5 Carmelite monks lived in Pumpėnai, they had a jurydyka in the town. After the uprising of 1831, the Russian authorities closed the monastery, but the monastery building remained for the parish. 20-register organ was installed in 1898.

The church is in the late baroque style, it also has features of classicism, with a rectangular plan, of hall layout, and without a tower. Interior of 3 naves, vaulted. A stone masonry belfry is built into the churchyard fence.

A windmill was built in the town of Pumpėnai in 1925. Jonas Kulalis invested here his capital that he earned in America. The investments were considerable, the body of the building is made of red bricks, the foundations are made of broken field stones. The Soviets, who occupied Lithuania, nationalized the mill and exiled the owner to Siberia. In the days of the collective farm, the mill was already powered by electricity, so the wings rotted and fell off. An attempt was made to restore the building in the 1980s, adapt it for festivals and a museum, but due to a change in the political system, it was not possible to do so. The privatized mill housed a cafe for several years, then stood empty for two decades.

The mill, which has the status of a state-protected object, was once again made famous by its new owners – “Būk geresnis” PE. The proactive youth organization successfully collected the funds needed for the preparation of the project of maintenance works. Institutions, organizations, communities and individuals bought the symbolic bricks and thus supported the mill. The prepared project was favorably received by the public, it was evaluated by specialists and recommended for state funding. If all goes well, the restoration of the mill should be completed in time for the centenary of its history.

The wooden church of folk architectural shapes was built in 1853. Later, it was enlarged and a brick belfry was built at the expense of the landowner Pranciškus Karpis and the parishioners. Antanas Juška, a well-known collector and researcher of Lithuanian folklore, was a provost in Pušalotas in 1855-1862. He renovated the church, built a rectory. An organ was installed in 1882. During the period of the press ban, priest Jonas Jaskevičius organized the distribution of the Lithuanian press, patronized secret Lithuanian schools, and built a shelter. J. Jaskevičius was active in the Pušalotas company of the Joniškėlis partisan battalion in the years of independence struggles in 1919-1920, and is buried in the churchyard.

The water mill in the village of Rauboniai was first mentioned in 1775. The wooden mill stood by Tatula River and belonged to the Raudonpamūšė estate managed by Baron Ulrich Saken, a general of the Tsarist Russian army. The Rauboniai mill was controlled by Baron Ludvik von Rop in the second half of the 19th century. He was probably the one, who built the current red brick building. Latvian Jonas Ribė bought and built wool carding and spinning facilities in 1907, thus expanding the company’s services. There was no other such company in a wide area around Rauboniai. Later, the Jew Chackelis Zivas installed new powerful English and Swedish equipment: carding machines and spinning machine. These authentic mechanisms operated daily until 1997. The building is a state-protected historical, technical, and architectural monument. Its greatest value is the preserved old technological wool processing equipment. Today, her work can be observed in the restored spaces of the mill. Educational sessions on wool processing are organized. The traditional craft festival “Vilnonės dienos” is held every year.

The first church of Saločiai was small, wooden. Radvilos of Biržai expropriated the property of the Catholic parish, destroyed the church and built a prayer house of Reformed Protestants in its place in 16th century. Catholics sued Radvila in 1632 and won the case. A new wooden church was built approximately in 1755. It burned down on 26 July 1944, the belfry bell melted during the fire. Under the care of administrators-priests Kazimieras Pukenis and Antanas Balys, the church was set up in a brick two-story rectory in 1945.