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 The
year 1236 is the date when the name Siauliai was mentioned in
historical chronicles for the first time. Siauliai is situated at
the junction of two roads used by hunters, warriors and merchants in times
much older than the city itself. These roads now connect Tallinn and
Warsaw, and run west to the seaport of Klaipeda and east to Russia through
Latvia.
 Due
to its perfect geographical location, Siauliai became the trade and
industrial center of Northern Lithuania from the very start. The fastest
economic and cultural development began in the 19th century, when Siauliai
was given as a present to the Russian Count Zubov. Footwear and nail
factories and higher schools were built. Since then Siauliai has
remained a hub of economic activity, producing items as varied as TV sets,
bicycles, leather goods and footwear, knitwear, machine tools, metal
items, furniture and food-stuff.
However, good geographic location has not always brought luck and success
for Siauliai: the town was twice burned to the ground, and during World
War II 85% of the town was ruined. Despite this, its strategical
importance ensured that the town was always rebuilt. It also meant that
the biggest military airport in Eastern Europe was established there in
the Soviet period.
 Siauliai,
with its current population of 147,000, is the fourth biggest city in
Lithuania and the economic, cultural and educational center of Northern
Lithuania.
Since 1970's when the center of Siauliai was reconstructed, we have a
pedestrian boulevard decorated with unique sculptures, with shops, cafés
and bars along it. Siauliai is also famous for its artists and musicians,
Drama Theatre and a number of various museums.
The one and only Hill of Crosses in the world, the Kurtuvenai and Venta
Regional Parks and many other places of interest and recreation, organized
commercial hunting expeditions and trips on horseback attract tourists to
the Siauliai Region as well as the city itself.
Places
of interest
Sculptures
 Sculpture
"Three Birds"
There is a composition of sculptures entitled Three
Birds on the lawn in front of Siauliai Hotel. As you walk around the
sculptures, one can see them from a different angle. The plastic lines
change and create an impression of movement. The birds turn and flap their
wings. They are about to spread their powerful wings.
 Fountain
Rude
Its small brown-colored dome symbolizes the rivulet
that used to flow here. As the time passed, the rivulet was covered and
flowed under the ground along the street that bears its name. The fountain
was equipped at the intersection of Vilnius St. and Rudes St. in 1986,
when the city was getting ready for its 750th jubilee. It took quite a lot
of effort to tame the rapid rivulet, but now we can see a fountain
decorated with strange old-style carvings.
 Sculpture
"Pelicans"
A fountain and
a sculpture under the same name, Pelicans, were erected in 1978 and
reconstructed in 2003. Most passers-by might wonder how such exotic birds
as pelicans came to Siauliai. The story is simple: once upon a time, a
pair of pelicans failed to keep pace with the flock. They took a wrong
direction and headed north instead of south. When flying over Siauliai,
they landed to quench their thirst with water from a pool. An evil
sorceress turned them into stones.
Sculpture
"Motherhood"
The idea of the decorative sculpture
Motherhood took quite a few years to mature. The sculpture stands in
Vilnius St., in front of Kastonu Alley. A mother with a baby in her lap is
an intimate scene, hidden from the eyes of strangers. Motherhood embodies
the everyday and eternal relation between the mother and her child.
 Sculpture
"Three Trolls"
When white candles of blossoms light on the
chestnut trees standing along the alley named after them, the three trolls
come to life and shine with pride. The bearded shorties look serious, but
their seriousness radiates kindness, and they remind one of the kindly
trolls from Scandinavian myths.
 Sculpture
"Dawn"
A new sculpture entitled Dawn by
D.Matulaite was erected quite recently. The idea that was born two decades
ago and received quite opposing opinion became a reality in 2003. The
sculpture symbolizes the Ausra (Dawn) Movement a political and literary
group of Lithuanian intellectuals of the 1880s - 1890s. They used to
publish a magazine called Ausra (1883-1886), and the organization was
named after it.
 Sculpture
"A reading man"
The sculpture entitled A Reading Man
erected in 1983. The man of the old times, who is standing on a cobbled
pavement, is not just an ordinary person he can read. Elderly residents of
Siauliai may find his silhouette slightly familiar. A Reading Man has come
from the old press of Siauliai: the same hand raised his eyeglasses, the
same irony. Now it minds of the old times when Siauliai was a major center
of press, that it has a few printing shops.
Churces
 Sts.
Apostales Peter and Paul's Cathedral
The building was erected in the Renaissance style, with quite a few
features typical of mediaeval architecture. In 1997, the church was
granted the status of a cathedral.
There are a number of stories telling why the Cathedral was built at this
place, and not somewhere else. A legend has it that upon a time a huge ox
wandered to Siauliai, lay down to rest, and passed away in its sleep. As
the time passed, the wind covered the dead ox with dust and sand, and thus
a small hill occurred. It is that hill Sts. & Apostles Peter and
Paul's Cathedral stands on today.
 St.
George's church
The church is situated in the central part of the city, next to the
railway station. The church was built in 1909 with money allotted by the
authorities of Tsarist Russia. At first, it served as the church of the
Russian Army; when the Russian retreated, the Germans turned it into a
warehouse. Following the retreat of the German troops, Rev. Martynas
Jonaitis, the chaplain of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Lithuanian
Army, saw to it that the church be renovated and handed over to the
regiment for its spiritual needs in June 1919. On 6 June 1999, the church
was consecrated and given the title of St. George the Martyr.
 St.
Ignatus' church
In Vilniaus St., next to the pedestrian boulevard, there is St. Ignatius'
Church. As far back as 1930, Jesuits bought a house, in which Father B.
Andruska equipped premises for Jesuits' residence and a chapel.
In 1949 St. Ignatius' Church was closed, and Father Danyla and Father
Andruska were arrested. The church was turned into a warehouse, then into
a sports hall, and finally it housed the Small Theater of Siauliai. At the
end of 1990 the building was handed back to the Jesuits.
 Sts.
Peter and Paul's Church of the Othodox parish
The Orthodox church is situated in the central part of the city, next to
the Orthodox sector of the old city cemetery.
Museums
 Radio
and Television museum
In 1982, the public Radio and Television Museum was established. In 1994,
it was given to Siauliai Ausros Museum. Today, the museum safeguards more
than 3,700 exhibits, forming various collections: restored mechanical
sound devices, radio receivers, measuring instruments, television
apparatuses, television sets, adding machines, radio parts and more. The
museum also holds personal inventories of the radio pioneers of Lithuania.
The Museum's exposition displays the items from its basic collection,
including old but still operating gramophones, music boxes, phonographs,
wireless radio receivers, television apparatuses, and television sets.
Photography
museum
 The
Photography Department of the Siauliai Ausros Museum founded in 1976.
Nowadays, around 15 photo-exhibitions are being arranged in the halls of
Photography Museum every year, that acquaint the visitors with the works
of the most prominent photographers of different periods and show the most
progressive tendencies in photo-art; presentations and discussions of the
exhibitions are being constantly organized. During the educational
activities, held often in the permanent exposition and in the exhibitions
halls, the visitors get deeper perception on the photography's nature,
they are taught to see and to take photo-creation in.
 Bicycle
museum
In 1980, the public Bicycle Museum created at Siauliai Bicycle and Motor
Factory "Vairas". In 1985, this museum transferred to its
present location, Vilniaus street 139. That same year, the museum opened
its exposition to the public. In 1993, the Bicycle Museum became a part of
Siauliai Ausros Museum. There are 259 exhibits in the museum's exposition,
of these 73 are bicycles and 4 are three- and four-wheeled carts.
This museum is very popular. Children especially enjoy visiting it. They
are not just able to view all the exhibits here, but also have a unique
opportunity to ride on the three- and four-wheeled carts.
Ch.
Frenkelis villa
The Villa was built in 1908 by the large scale manufacturer Chaimas
Frenkelis, who at the end of the 19th century established in Siauliai one
of the largest and most modern in the tsarist Russia factory for leather
tanning and processing. Chaimas Frenkelis Villa - the cultural monument in
the Art Noveau style - is the only one of its kind in Siauliai and one of
a few in Lithuania.
 Venclauskiai
house
The house of Stanislava and Kazimieras Venclauskiai was built between 1925
and 1927.
In 1995, the S. and K. Venclauskiai exposition was opened at the house,
illustrating the domestic and public lives of the noted lawyer and
talented actress and stage manager. In 1993, in memory of the more than
100 foundlings and impoverished children who were raised in the family, a
statue was unveiled on the terrace of the museum called
"Motherhood". Now the building houses the administration of the
Museum, History Department and Exhibitions and Visitors' Service
Department, a library, and the halls for exhibitions.
Poet
Jovaras house
The exposition "The World and Fates of
Literature Creators" opened in 1986, signified the beginning of
Siauliai literary museum in Poet Jovaras House. Unique exhibits reflect
the lives and creation of such Lithuanian writers as P. Visinskis, Zemaite,
G. Petkevicaite-Bite, Satrijos Ragana, M. Grigonis, J.
Miliauskas-Miglovara, J. Janonis, K. Korsakas, F. Kirsa, and others.
Exhibitions, traditional poetry springs and other events take place in the
Poet Jovaras House.
Museum
of Cats
The museum was founded on the 17th of May 1990 by Vanda Kavaliauskiene,
which was collecting exhibits for the museum many years. The first exhibit
- little black wooden cat came from Poland in 1962.
There are over 10 000 exhibits in the museums. Visitors are greeted by
cats in staineds, on stair handrail, on the lamps, etc...
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