Unmissable, and just 8km or so north along the Nemunas, the tiny settlement of Liškiava has been known to exist as a place of relative importance since its first written account in 1044, although excavations prove that the area has been populated for more than two thousand years. Although celebrated for possessing no less than four archaeological monuments, namely the Alka Mound (Alkos Kalnas), Church Hill (Bažnyčios Kalnas), The Bull’s Heel Stone (Akmuo su Jaučio Vėda) and the Witches’ Stone (Raganų Akmuo), the main reason to visit is predominantly an archaeological one. Home to the remains of a 14th-century castle and the marvellous 18th-century Dominican Monastery, the former, built to thwart the ever-threatening Teutonic Order, was originally a wooden construction, later updated to a stronger structure and eventually abandoned after the Order was crushed at the 1410 Battle of Grunwald (Žalgiris). The monastery and surrounding ensemble of buildings suffered considerably during the Soviet occupation and are in the process of complete renovation with the help of money from the EU. The attached church has some fine works of art from the 17th to the 20th century.
[...]
Add
your
comment
