Places to visit in Pasval district

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.

A memorial site that honors the people of Joniškėlis of the 20th century, who died for the freedom of Lithuania. Men from this region assembled into the Joniškėlis death battalion and defended Northern Lithuania from the Soviet Russian army in 1919. An impressive monument depicting an artillery gun was erected in 1935 on the grave of the officer Jonas Stapulionis, who died in the struggle. The names of the volunteers of Joniškėlis village are inscribed on memorial tablets.

Partisans from the Joniškėlis region, who fell for the freedom of Lithuania during the period of armed resistance to the Soviet Union in 1944-1953, are also buried in the memorial. Many died in the battle of Uniūnai Village with NKVD troops in on 23 February 1946.

1,349 people of Jewish nationality from Pasvalys, Vabalnikas, Joniškėlis, Saločiai, Vaškai, and Daujėnai were killed in this place and buried in two mass graves at the end of August of 1941. The execution was carried out by the executioners of the 3rd company of the 1st Lithuanian police battalion.

The exact number of Jews killed is known from SS Colonel Karl Jäger’s report on completed tasks of 1941. In one grave, there are remains of 402 men, in the other – remains of 738 women and 209 children. In the practice of killing, this was done to avoid unwanted emotions and unrest. There are memorials in both places.

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.

The chapel-shaped wooden composition is dedicated to the book smugglers of the Saločiai region – Steponas Pavilionis, Juozas Steponavičius, Antanas Krasinskas-Voverys, and Jonas Burkus. Unveiled in 1993.

Lithuanians defeated the forces of West Russian Volunteer Army on 12 November 1919 in Saločiai. In order to commemorate this victory and honor the fallen soldiers a seven-meter obelisk was erected in the market square of the town in 1928. At its top was a globe pierced by a sword, as a bold statement that Lithuania had won a place for itself among the rest of the world. In the post-war years, the enemies desecrated the bodies of the fallen partisans at its foot. The monument was demolished in circa 1964. The wreckage was taken away and buried somewhere in gravel pits…

Saločiai obelisk was erected again in June 1989, on the initiative of the town’s Sąjūdis group.

Soldiers of the Pušalotas company of the Joniškėlis partisan battalion who died  in the spring battle with the Bolsheviks in 1919 near the village of Bernatoniai (now Panevėžys District) are buried here.

A monument depicting a stepped pyramid was erected on the grave of the soldiers in 1928 with the care of the members of the spring movement and former comrades. President Antanas Smetona participated in the ceremony of consecration of the monument. The monument was created by the architect Vladas Švipas. His model was exhibited at the Paris World Fair in 1937.

During the Soviet occupation, the monument stood abandoned, state symbols and names of fallen soldiers were torn from it.

According to legend, a famous researcher of photochemistry, the first Lithuanian physical chemist, world-famous scientist Theodor von Grotthuß used to sit under this oak tree. He lived and worked nearby in the Gedučiai estate. The basement of T. Grotthuss’ grave remained in the forest, where he was buried, later the remains were moved elsewhere. Oak is a state-protected botanical natural heritage object. 

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.

The stone was lying in the nearby homestead of Šimkūnai next to the house. Glaciers brought it to these parts. Only a small part of the giant was visible above the ground. During reclamation in 1985, the boulder was unearthed and dragged closer to the road by powerful tractors. However, the stone started to jam in the lowest part, the ropes broke, so the boulder had to be left here, stuck about a meter in the ground. A natural monument of national significance. Dimensions 4.5x3x2.5 m.

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.