Places to visit in Pasval district

The homestead of Gulbininėnai Manor belonged to General Kazys Ladyga from 1925 to 1941. He tried to create a modern farm, to turn the manor into a real cultural center of the area. Thanks to K. Ladyga’s care, a post office, a shop, additional sections of elementary school, and roads were built in Gulbinėnai. He earned the greatest gratitude of the residents by founding a chapel on the estate, later supporting the construction of a church, and the creation of a parish. A seven-year-old school started operating in the palace of the Gulbinėnai manor in 1945 and operated until 1992. Today the manor belongs to a private individual. The territory of the homestead consisted of three zones: representative, economy, and recreational. The composition of the representative zone is characteristic to even the homesteads of baroque manors of the 18th century. All buildings are build from red bricks and stone masonry. Today, 10 buildings or their fragments remain: a palace, a granary, a workshop, barns and outbuildings. Behind the manor palace lies a large park with a unique system of ponds and canals. Acacia trees were planted around the ponds, the dance floor with lindens.

From the mid 17th century to 1940 Joniškėlis manor was controlled by Karpiai, one of the most extensive family in Lithuania. They built a classicist manor house in the second half of the 18th century and started creating a park. The park was designed by the German architect Franz Lehman in the 19th century. The old part of the park on the left bank of Mažupė River was built in the English style. The right bank belongs to the French park. Karpiai arranged the park spaces tastefully, family gatherings and weekend concerts took place here. Prominent Lithuanian cultural figures, writers, and public figures walked along the paths of the park. Today it is one of the ten largest (34 ha) and most valuable manor parks in Lithuania. On the parterre of the palace, 200 rose bushes bloom in summer. Take a walk along the paths of the park, admire the rare species of plants, relax in the gazebo. And come at least once to the mysterious “Night in Karpiai Manor”.

Legend. Once upon a time, trees never took root in the park. The steward of the manor proposed a macabre solution: to water the land of the future park with the blood of innocent babies. Karpis did just that – the trees took root and grew. Oaks grew where boys’ blood flowed, and lindens grew where girls’ blood flowed. However, the soul of the cursed landowner will roam the park as long as there is at least one oak tree in it. And today, when lightning strikes, Karpis face appears in the oak crowns, begging for lightning to strike and burn the giants. Only then will he find peace…

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.

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.

Buildings remaining until the late 19th century – early 20th century. The manor belonged to Klebokas, then to baron Ludvik Rop. He planted a park and built a red brick manor house that has survived to this day. During the Soviet era, the palace served as a cultural center and an administrative center for the local economy. Later, families lived here. The palace building was purchased by a private individual in 2003.

The manor palace is made of red brick, the central part has two floors, with an attic. A mixed-style park stretches along the Jiešmuo stream – a place for local people and guests to relax. A hanging wooden bridge connects the shores of Jiešmuo pond, there is a possibility to ride water bikes. An oak tree grows in the park – a botanical natural monument, its diameter reaches 1.5 m.

In the middle of the 19th century, the family of the landowner Aleksandaras Chodakauskas bought the Vytartai manor. On the side of Pasvalys, on the picturesque bend of Mūša River, the mansion was once haunted by the silhouettes of famous women. Sofija Smetonienė, the wife of Antanas Smetona, the first president of Lithuania, often visited here, at the house of her grandmother Šarlotė Osten Saken Chodakauskienė. Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė, godmother of S. Smetonienė, also from the Chodakauskai family, was a frequent guest in Vytartai. Grandfather of S. Smetonienė and father of G. Petkevičaitė-Bitė were brothers.

On the road to the manor an arched bridge was built over Mūša River in 1928. President A. Smetona himself participated in the opening of the bridge. There was a school in the Vytartai manor from 1931 to 1968. Currently, the manor belongs to private individuals.