Panemune Castle, Vytėnai, Lithuania

The initial hillfort of the Teutonic Knights in Panemunė (erected 1343) was replaced by a present castle built in 1604-1610. It was built by Hungarian nobleman Eperjesh who bought the surrounding lands from Lithuanian local inhabitants. It is a typical 17th century feudal castle with a defensive tackle, living quarters and farm buildings. The castle stands in a park on a high hill and is girdled by five cascading ponds. It was reconstructed around 1759 by Giełgud family.

The Panemunė castle was left to decay in the 19th century. Its valuable library was brought out, the former marvelous park of classicism style became feral. In 1925 Lithuanian government acquired the castle into a national possession. In 1935 the Panemunė castle and its surroundings where taken under responsibility of Lithuanian Culture department.

Nowadays Panemunė castle has 2 corpuses remained – the western including 2 towers and the southern. Panemunė castle belongs to Vilnius Art Academy which takes care about restoration of the castle and fitting it to science, education and tourism purposes. During the summer season the Vilnius Art Academy arranges there expositions of art works.

References:

way2lithuania.com

Castles and fortifications in Lithuania

Address

Pilis I, Vytėnai, Lithuania

See all sites in Vytėnai

Details

Founded: 1604-1610
Category: Castles and fortifications in Lithuania

More Information

en.wikipedia.org
www.way2lithuania.com
www.visitlithuania.net
www.truelithuania.com

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby

Raudone Castle (9,1 km)
Tytuvenai Monastery (57 km)
Molavenai Hill Fort (39,5 km)

User Reviews

Andy Woods (8 months ago)
Beautiful grounds to walk around but the building is closed for renovations and the coffee but shop never opened.

S J (2 years ago)
It's a death trap for visitors. The door frames are very low. If you're tall, you have to be careful not to crush your scull. There are no warning signs! The one one picture was put after I hit my head full force.

Ali UNLU (2 years ago)
Nice and quite area to have coffee and walk around small man-made lakes around castle. There is a museum inside the castle and there was an art exhibition when we visited.

Povilas Jocius (2 years ago)
A lovely place for a short stop while traveling. It's a unique place with a really cool and a bit spooky tower. Be careful of the people who asks you to ride their horses and pony's, they are ripping off with the prices ?

Ana Lu Novoa (3 years ago)
Excellent service. The director himself explained to us about the history of the castle and its future.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Zvonimir Hrvoj

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Church of St Donatus

The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.

The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.

The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.

Panemune Castle