Places to visit in Pasval district

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.

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 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.

Įdubala opened more than a hundred years ago (in 1912) in the middle of Moliūnai forest. The depth measured by special devices is over five meters! It is said that once upon a time there was a horse standing in this place. A cursed girl came to ask for help from the boy who was lighting the fire in the threshing barn. When the boy who didn’t save her cursed, a hole opened in which the unfortunate girl disappeared. And a snake the size of a log crawled out of the hole and slithered into Moliūnai mound…

We invite you to search for the sinkhole, and its coordinates will help you not get lost in the forest.

Dolomite outcrop on the right bank of Mūša, natural monument. Dolomite is also called rock, lime, limestone, shale – that’s why this place got the name Skaliai Hill. With a steep slope, the outcrop falls to the river, in the east it gradually descends to the terrace of the valley, in the west – to a steep slope several hundred meters long and 7 meters high steep slope, covered with grass and bushes. In the western part of the cliff, the oldest rocks are visible – the clay and dolomite of the Pamūšis measure, in the eastern part – the dolomite of the Stipinai measure, at the top of the cliff, on the rocks of the Devonian system, there are Quaternary deposits up to 1 meter thick. At the bottom of the outcrop, water rushes in, moistening the grass. Dolomite was formed about 350 million years ago on the sea floor from dissolved carbonate sediments. When the level of the sea dropped and their bottom rose, the rocks oxidized, and their color changed – the gray dolomite became yellowish gray.

There was always a belief that it has miraculous powers. During the Pentecost church festival, people would walk, ride, and cycle to the spring, and those who wanted to be healed would crawl on their knees. The spring used to look completely different. Until 1938 there was a puddle where people washed their diseased and wounded body parts.

During the Soviet era, the spring was filled with soil under the order of the authorities. After the restoration of independence, the people of Daujėnai enthusiastically revived the spring and turned it into a sacral place.

The narrow gauge railway line from Joniškėlis to Žeimelis used to run in this place. The bridge over Mūša was built during the Second World War, it was built by Soviet soldiers who were prisoners of the Germans. A camp for prisoners of war was even built in Svobiškis. The length of the bridge is 70 m, width – 2.6 m, height – 9.6 m. It is the only reinforced concrete arch bridge in Lithuania in a narrow gauge railway section. Materials of exceptional quality were used for the structure. In the Soviet era, the railway line was abolished, a road was built in its place, and the bridge was adapted for car traffic.

The old Toliūnai water mill is mentioned already in 1857. It belonged to Toliūnai Manor, it had only one millstone. The mill burned down in 1905. The fire could have been caused by oil leaking from old equipment. The new owners of the manor built a new field stone masonry mill in 1909 that still stands today.

The mill has three floors. In the upper one there were two millstones. In the lower part – devices for pouring flour and groats into sacks. In the western part there were living quarters – three rooms and a kitchen.

During the First World War, the Toliūnai manor and the mill were under the control of Germans. Later, it was bought by the Jews of Pakruojis region, who did not live here, but hired local workers. The building was purchased in 1927 by Mrs. Agnieška Jasukevičienė, who came from the USA, thanks to whom the wool processing equipment was installed in the mill. The mill was famous throughout the region, customers came here even from Panevėžys. In the Soviet era, the mill was turned by an electric motor. Then the mill stopped operating. Today it is a private property, but it stands abandoned.

The date of its construction is commemorated on the wall of the mill – 1899. The mill was built by Baron Han, the landowner of Plonėnai. The powerful, 4-story, 18-meter-high building is made of local clay bricks. Foundations from field stones. The mill had four wings and a modern drawbar, a device for turning the cap against the wind. Four millstone were turning: two for grinding of feed grains, one for bread, and one for fine grinding and sorting. In the days of independent Lithuania, the mill was rented by the Jew Moderniekas, but he was kicked out due to disagreements. The new owner built a steam engine and set up a sawmill. The Soviets, who occupied Lithuania, nationalized the mill and exiled the owner to Siberia. The mill was restored in the 1980s, adapted for festivals, and an extension was built next to it. However, the work was not completed after the change in the political establishment. The privatized building housed a cafe-bar, later a second-hand clothing store. The mill no longer received the attention it needed, it lost its face, its wings fell off, and its walls began to crumble.

Velniakalnis is an archaeological site of the Iron Age. It is believed that in the times of paganism, there was a place of religious rites here – a site of alkas. Only isolated archaeological finds are known.

A sundial is installed on Velniakalnis, the highest hill in the Pasvalys Region. The height of Velniakalnis is 75.2 m. above sea level. The sky luminary observatory in Velniakalnis was created based on the old tradition of Balts. Back then, large stones marked important places: crossroads, burial places, land borders, celestial observation points. The sky luminaries observatory and the sundial were created by folk artist Arūnas Grušas (Pasvalys). The sundial was opened on 22 September 2019, commemorating the Day of Unity of Balts. Velniakalnis sundial is unique in its form, it is included in the virtual world sundial atlas www.sundialatlas.net.

St. John’s Day, 6th of July – State Day, 22nd of September are celebrated at Velniakalnis, the fire of Balts’ unity is lit here.

A hydrological natural monument of national significance. The Spring is unique in its pungent smell and yucky taste. The pebbles of the bottom of the stream and the grass on the edges are so white that the spring is nicknamed White. Its water is clear, colorless, has a sharp smell of hydrogen sulphide, unpleasant taste, because it contains a lot of sulphates (gypsum) and other chemical compounds. With the help of a lever, water can be drawn from the tank.