Norviliskes Castle, Norviliškės, Lithuania

Norviliškės Castle (a former monastery, also called Norviliškės Manor) is a Renaissance style castle. It was first mentioned in 1586. In 1617 the owners donated part of the real estate land to Franciscans. Around 1745 they built a monastery and a church in Renaissance style. The monastery was reconstructed at the end of the 18th century by Kazimieras Kaminskis. After the November Uprising of 1831, Russian authorities closed the monastery and turned it into barracks for soldiers, and later to a boarding school for girls. The Church of St. Mary Compassionate Mother was closed at the same time as the monastery. A new wooden church was built in 1929.

For a long time the former manor stood abandoned. In 2005, reconstruction was started by an entrepreneur, Giedrius Klimkevičius, from Vilnius. The project is supported by funds from the PHARE program. The hopes are that the Norviliškės Castle will become a tourist attraction. It offers hosting for business conferences or weddings, hunting, shooting practices, and other activities, including music festivals.

References:

Wikipedia

Castles and fortifications in Lithuania

User Reviews

Linas Gutauskas (3 years ago)
Nice and very calm place. Belarus is just a few meters away. When we visited - it was closed.

Marek Kluka (3 years ago)
Amazing location and possibly big future wait for this place, but at this moment it looks abandoned and needs further investment

Ervinas Kazlauskas (5 years ago)
Really nice castle on the Lithuanian - Belarusia border to get there you'll need a car so if you plan to visit it plan a one day trip with additional places to visit throughout the trip because you won't spend much time seeing the castle ?

Martynas (5 years ago)
Beautiful, interesting and romantic place. Surrounded by Belarus on three sides. Suitable for a quiet rest. Very tasty food.

Dovilė Plančiūnienė (5 years ago)
Beautiful castle in an interesting location, on the border with Belarus. There is also a nice wooden church nearby. However not much to see around the place.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Andy Hay

Historic Site of the week

Argos Theater

The ancient Argos Theater was built in 320 BC. and is located in Argos, Greece against Larissa Hill. Nearby from this site is Agora, Roman Odeon, and the Baths of Argos. The theater is one of the largest architectural developments in Greece and was renovated in ca 120 AD.

The Hellenistic theater at Argos is cut into the hillside of the Larisa, with 90 steps up a steep incline, forming a narrow rectilinear cavea. Among the largest theaters in Greece, it held about 20,000 spectators and is divided by two landings into three horizontal sections. Staircases further divide the cavea into four cunei, corresponding to the tribes of Argos A high wall was erected to prevent unauthorized access into the theatron and may have helped the acoustics, but it is said the sound quality is still very good today.

Around 120 CE, both theaters were renovated in the Roman style.

Norviliskes Castle

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historic Site of the week

Argos Theater