Writers’ Hill

Anykščiai is an exceptional town of Lithuania, where you can visit lots of places both in summer and winter, starting from the entertainment and recreational areas and finishing with sightseeing and educational ones. Anykščiai has the first memorial museum in Lithuania, which was established in 1927 with the efforts from the writer Antanas Žukauskas-Vienuolis in the granary belonging to the poet Antanas Baranauskas. Later on, the museum was named A. Baranauskas and A. Vienuolis-Žukauskas Memorial Museum. It is very significant for the Anykščiai region and the whole Lithuania not only because it reminds about the most prominent persons of that region but also because it collects, stores and promotes exhibits, which are significant in cultural, historical and educational point of view.

The writer A. Vienuolis after spending around twenty years in foreign countries returned to his homeland and settled here. He built a house in the inherited property, where he lived until his last days. Currently, the memorial library of the museum stores more than 1300 books. Tourists can also visit A. Vienuolis’ working room, his wife’s room and a small kitchen, where you can find preserved furniture and items that were used long time ago. In the garden, you can visit the writer’s grave.

The granary of A. Baranauskas was built in 1826 but was moved to its present location only in 1839. It is a unique building which appeared as a result of writer’s father Jonas Baronas. The granary was built by using an axe only, without any other tools. Up until now, it has preserved some of the writer’s items – a bed that belonged to Baranauskai, chest of dowry, a violin and even a suitcase and a shelf, where the poet kept his manuscripts.

Nowadays, the museum is actively participating in the Anykščiai town celebrations as well as cultural events and organises educational programmes on the topics of art, music, history, literature and ethnography.

Those who are interested in artistic works can visit The Stone Painting Exhibition by a folk artist Stanislovas Petraška, which is presented in the exhibition hall of the museum. Using the technique of painting with the stone dust, the creator had recorded the unique landscapes of Anykščiai, monuments of the writers A. Vienuolis and A. Baranauskas as well as other places which are important for this region, such as Puntukas Stone and the Forest of Anykščiai. These works are impressive not only as a result of the chosen technique but also because of the making time as it took around 4 – 5 months for an artist to finish one work. After visiting the spaces of the exhibition, people can try this technique of art creation by themselves and feel how much devotion and patience is required from the creator in order to present this art.