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.

Here, in the homestead of the former village of Stebeikėliai, the future classic of Lithuanian literature, Bernardas Brazdžionis, honorary Citizen of the city of Pasvalys, was born on 02 February 1907. The boy, who was barely a year old, left his homeland with his parents and went across the Atlantic. He will later return, attend Žadeikiai, Pasvalys elementary schools, Biržai gymnasium, and study at Vytautas Magnus University. Then long years of living abroad… The native village will often appear in the poet’s works. A narrow, dusty road leads here, and the last remaining homestead in the neighborhood reminds us of what the Brazdžioniai farm might have looked like. Today, it is reminded by a powerful hundred-year-old oak and a roofed pillar with a figure of St. Roch was erected in 1989. In the years of revival, the poet’s return to his homeland was particularly sensitive.

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.

The partisans of the Green Forest set up a bunker in this place in autumn of 1944, named it “Near the path of Margiai Mountain-ash”. Jonas Tamošiūnas-Vyturys, a partisan from the village of Margiai, was killed in a battle with Russian soldiers near the bunker on 06 October 1945. At that time, another partisan was killed, whose name, unfortunately, is unknown. Others successfully retreated.

Bunker was restored in 2004 by the young riflemen of the Pasvalys rifle company, led by Algis Kalvėnas. In memory of the partisans, their comrade Juozas Tamulionis erected a wooden cross.

The bunker, built in 1948, was one of the headquarters of the partisan commander Povilas Žilis-Klevas. The fighters of his unit belonged to the Green Detachment of Vytis County.

The authentic bunker was never discovered nor destroyed by the enemy, it was destroyed by nature. Bunker was restored in 2003 by the young riflemen of the Pasvalys rifle company, led by Algis Kalvėnas.

A place that gives an authentic experience. We suggest you go to a bunker in the middle of the forest, where you will sit down on wooden deckchairs and read the underground press by candlelight, get acquainted with the partisan oath, sing partisan songs, and open a prayer book… The partisans of Pasvalys region, led by Jonas Alenčikas-Dragūnas, hid here when they were tired after the battles or when they were wounded. The actual bunker was built in 1945, but was destroyed during the battle. First rebuilt in 1997, but time and nature have taken their toll… The bunker was restored by the Pasvalys Regional Museum in 2019. After travelling in time you can go back to today again! You will see the real life of the partisans in a 3D movie when you will visit the Pasvalys Regional Museum.

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 homestead of the Vileišiai family of farmers stood in this place, where a group of people, who distinguished themselves for Lithuania, were born and grew up. Vileišiai – fighters for the freedom of the Lithuanian press, educators, entrepreneurs, revivalists of Lithuanian spirit, supporters of culture and art, statesmen, creators of self-government, builders of a reborn Lithuania… A roofed pole for the Vileišiai family was unveiled in the homestead on 16 February 1991 (sculptor Arūnas Grušas). It depicts five brothers: Petras, the engineer, Jonas, the lawyer and the signatory of the Act of Independence of 16 February 1918, Antanas, the doctor, Juozas, the priest, and Kazimieras, the farmer. The creation of Vileišiai Park began in 2001. Oak trees rustle here for the six brothers, and the two sisters are symbolized by fir trees. Trees are planted in the park on various occasions significant for the region of Pasvalys.

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.