The Kėdainiai minaret is the only free-standing minaret in Lithuania. The minaret was built in 1880 by the Russian general Eduard Totleben, who was an owner of Kėdainiai manor. He built the minaret as a memorial to the Russian-Turkish war in which he had fought. Local legend also says that he built the minaret for his Turkish lover. The minaret is typical of Ottoman architecture. It is needle-topped, 25 meters high and has a balcony which can be reached by interior stairs. There are two plaques affixed to its wall. One is written in Ottoman Turkish and describes a beautiful palace built by the Ottoman sultan.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.