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– Lately there are a lot of posts on social media about you and the boisterous “World Pots” in Merkinė. How do you react to this?
– Sometimes I feel like a dream. We wanted to start this project in Merkinė and see how many people are interested in it. We thought: we would sit in silence, accepting each other’s guests, but from that came every modest wish, I would say, a great festival. My daughter said, and I think it’s very well described: it’s like a street food festival where there are people all the time, they change. And for us it was really a great joy and at the same time a great test. We deal with many problems that arise. And, I think, surprised in every way, because we didn’t expect such a success, frankly.
– What do you think attracted people: the summer, the fact that the vast majority of people did not leave Lithuania, Merkinė or perhaps the name of V. Radzevičius?
Merkinė is simply a historical gem, only due to various historical calamities it was dusted off and forgotten.
– There are many things in one. First of all, people cannot travel freely outside of Lithuania. Lithuanians, I have always said, are great travelers, you can find them in every corner of the earth. Not only that, they are very curious. And now, when there is no opportunity to travel to other lands, it is gratifying that Lithuanians are traveling in Lithuania. Another thing – after the quarantine, during which we were all prisoners, some – in the cities between the four borders, all yearning for some impressions, activities, activity, new places. Well, maybe the successful LRT “World Pots” project on food culture in various countries around the world will also have an impact. I think it all came together in one greasy bite, and lo and behold.
– Did the UAB Merkin soap factory, which you founded with like-minded people, rent the mansion last year?
– Yes, there was a contest at the end of July last year. Since we won it, in about a year, including the entire quarantine, I would say that we have really managed to do a lot. According to the horoscope, I am Aries, I am anxious for everything to happen as soon as possible. Visions for the restoration and development of the mansion are very high, and what is happening now is only the beginning. Architectural visions have already been created, architectural design work begins, all the combinations and the like. I imagine that in the future, this place with its beautiful landscape will be, as we wanted, a mecca for travelers, a meeting place for active people, where you can eat and listen to something and see something, actively spend time walking, cycling. , in water.
Merkinė is definitely worth it. She associates me with a travel center. I jokingly say that he is on the road to empire. In the time of the Republic of the Two Nations, it was here, across the country, through that mansion, that the road from Vilnius to Krakow passed through Grodno. Merkinė is simply a historical gem, only due to various historical calamities it was dusted off and forgotten. But I think she, as the locals say, is doomed to prosper.
theSurprise: according to V. Radzevičius, with a modest desire to see if the project in Merkinė will appeal to people, he received a great festival: there are many visitors here every weekend.
– I heard that the people of Merkinė are happy that the Merkinė mansion now has tenants who have been able to see the perspective of a unique object, they will be able to take advantage of the unique historical context of Merkinė, work creatively and attractively. After all, attempts were made to privatize it, and then the local beauty would hardly be achievable for an ordinary person …
– I do not know all those stories, but I have heard that there have been attempts at privatization. I don’t know what would have been in the mansion then, but I’m sure not privatizing it was the right decision. It is state owned, rented only and will remain in the state. That place, in my head, cannot be privatized because it is the story of all of us.
Valuable features of the old castle site have been identified. Here we can develop certain activities, but we cannot, for example, go to the ground without an archaeological investigation. As a result, we even built the deck on tiles, placed them, and didn’t bury any stakes in the ground. But the buildings of the mansion do not have valuable properties, because they were built in the 19th century. in the end as a soap factory.
The most valuable layer, of course, is underground. It is an old mansion, which during the Russian flood in the 18th century. it was destroyed in the end. And we really want, and we talk to local archaeologists, that it will really be necessary to surf and explore everything, to determine the location of the old mansion. In Merkinė, the story literally flies off the ground. It was an area rich in monasteries, churches and historical heritage, where much research is still needed. This is evidenced by recent archaeological excavations between our so-called hill and the Merkinė mound, during which the foundations were found. Historians that I know of still can’t answer the question of who was there, because as if nothing should have been there.
Here is Merkinė with his secrets, like the second Kernavė.
– Has the quarantine slowed down the start of your activity at Merkinė?
– I would say that it hindered me a bit, but at the same time it accelerated it. We originally planned to open the outdoor terrace in early June, but when this infestation arrived, everything stopped. We had already decided to do nothing this year. But when the quarantine was announced, we cut off the whole area, we assessed the environment and we thought we had to act here and now, there is nothing to wait, because funds are needed for the further development of this area.
I’m really not mad about the quarantine. For me, that time was not suffering because there was enough space for me and for my activities.
– But you yourself, as far as I know, started on the farm for over a month …
– Yes, but it is very close, in the village of Ryliškės. There I already live, there I am registered, there I vote. During the quarantine, I was in the Merkinė mansion almost every day, where all kinds of thoughts arose: stopovers, deliberations, lying, observation. It was getting harder and harder to make things happen faster. I am very eager to wait.
– How did you suffer so impatiently for three months on the farm?
– There also activities occurred to me. All kinds of meaningless and meaningless. I did as much on the farm during that quarantine as I probably hadn’t done in ten years. I raised the chicken coop, bought the chickens, made the gardens, arranged the environment, planted the rose, pulled out the stones, cut the grass and cut part of the territory of nature. And where else are the repairs? I’m going to swap the kitchen for the bathroom seats because I realized the planning mistakes I made ten years ago. The farm is full of activities, there is no way to do anything.
So I’m really not mad about the quarantine. For me, that time was not suffering because there was enough space for me and for my activities. If I had stayed in the city it would have been much more difficult.
– How do you keep up with so many activities everywhere: farms, mansions, television, writing books? …
– Sometimes it seems that you are already breaking all the seams, such is the lack of time. But on the other hand, when I think about it, for some reason I’ve been my whole life. I never did a single job. I have many interesting, curious things, wanting to try, to do. You don’t want to miss out on an opportunity that you might be trying to seize. I often give this example when talking about my activities (anyone who plays football will understand): when you are on the field, it is important to see not only the ball, but the whole field, who is standing, where are the defenders, where are they? attackers, where is the security. In some ways it is very similar in my life. And I like it, I don’t learn any other way. Here maybe a severe form of work addiction, but when work declines for some reason, it seems to me that I forgot something, I didn’t do something, something went wrong, it can’t be like that.
I guess I guess. It may sound like a lot from the country. But I have already given up many activities. I follow the principle in life: when I do something for a long time and I already feel that the activity no longer provides the pleasure or the effect that I expect, I try not to do that anymore, to look for something else.
– Being next to the hot pots on summer weekends, when the people around are entertained, does it give you pleasure?
– I’m really curious. Interestingly, such a great project has evolved. And it is interesting to produce in such quantities. I really like that there are comments from people, and those words are really inspiring. So are the words of criticism: everything happens, including mistakes, but you try to do everything from the heart and to the best of your ability. It is not an instant show here.
– Your other position now – Grandpa?
– Oh, these responsibilities are the most important. We get along very well with my grandson. It is very curious; probably, like all children of this age, he asks a lot. He wants to communicate. I am a patient grandfather. I keep answering you, although those questions sometimes seem unanswered, but you try to answer. For example, ask: where is your hair and why is your beard growing? How to answer such a question for a child? I mean – hair went from head to beard.
I am a mixed race, having nothing in common with Dzūkija: my father is a highlander, my mother is from Suwalki, I myself am from Vilnius.
– Who is Merkinė to you?
– I will repeat – for me it is first and foremost Dzūkija Nida. I remember Nida as a small town from childhood, and I look at what it has become now. These are some parallels and associations for me here.
Another thing: for me, Merkinė has been like this for many years. unknown land. I remember when I was editor of the magazine “Istorijos”, the journalist Brigita Balikienė once went to that same country, a little behind Merkinė, where I now live, and brought an incredibly interesting article. And somehow I got stuck in that place, I still wanted to visit it. And once I’ve visited it, it seems like it’s forever because I’m completely hooked.
At Merkinė, there are discoveries for me every day, both historical and experimental. I’m looking for all possible material on Merkinė. There is a large Merkinė History Museum, local historians: Žygis Bužinskas, Mindaugas Černiauskas. That romantic love story of Vasa, partisan times … All this makes Merkinė unique and unrepeatable. What’s on the Merkinė subway is a Lithuanian Troy, second only to Kernavė. It is simply a very important part of Lithuanian history, a very important place that has been neglected for a long time.
I can’t even explain where this attraction to this territory comes from. I am a mixed race, having nothing in common with Dzūkija: my father is a highlander, my mother is from Suwalki, I myself am from Vilnius. Sometimes I will need to explore my family tree in greater depth; maybe this will be a new area of my activity in the future.
V. Radzevičius offers to do
Sri Lankan Devil Chicken
5 diners will need:
250 g of chicken fillet;
40 g of chopped sweet bell pepper;
40 g of sliced onion;
1 teaspoon minced garlic;
40 g of tomato cut into quarters;
30 g of the white part of the sliced leek;
1 hot pepper, cut diagonally;
2-4 tablespoons of coconut oil;
1 teaspoon of black pepper peas;
1 teaspoon minced ginger;
½ teaspoon of turmeric powder;
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon; you go out to taste.
Doing:
Cut the chicken into small pieces, mix with the turmeric, salt and fry for about 5 minutes. in a tablespoon of oil in a small saucepan. Heat the oil in a frying pan, fry the onions with cinnamon until golden brown. Put the ginger, garlic, black pepper, chicken in a pan and mix well. Add the leeks, hot peppers, and tomatoes and sauté over low heat, stirring for about 5 minutes. Serve with cooked rice. If you’re afraid of sharpness, add less hot peppers and black pepper.
By the way, in Sri Lanka, this dish is eaten without tools, with your fingers in your mouth.
Skmeruli
One of the dishes I really enjoyed was Sakartvele – škmeruli. It is a chicken dish that originates from the village of Škmeri (hence the name) located in the Racha region of West Sakartvele. Easy to make, no ingredients are needed.
2 dining rooms will need:
1 chicken
0.5 l of milk;
1 head of garlic;
1-2 tablespoons of butter;
salt and pepper to taste.
Doing:
Chop the chicken approximately the same size you see in the photo. Rub with salt and pepper, bake in a preheated 200 degree oven for about half an hour until the pieces are well browned. Place the chicken pieces in a suitable container for the oven so that they are in two rows and are “compressed”. Crush the garlic and fry it in another bowl over the butter, pour and boil the milk, add salt, add the remaining fat after cooking the chicken. Pour the milk over the chicken and cook for 5-10 minutes. Edible with greens and vegetables.
Oktoberfest Cabbage
6 dining rooms will need:
1 kg of Bratwurst sausages;
2-3 cans of Pilsner beer;
2 teaspoons of cumin;
2 teaspoons of coriander seeds;
2 teaspoons of mustard seeds;
2 finely chopped onions;
A 10 cm long piece of ginger, cut into thin slices;
2-3 tablespoons of oil;
½ red cabbage finely chopped;
2 tablespoons of honey
¼ glasses of wine vinegar;
salt and ground black pepper to taste.
Doing:
Put the sausages in a pot, pour the beer, add a glass of water, add the cumin, coriander and mustard seeds, onion and ginger. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes. Cover with a lid, remove from heat and let stand 15 minutes. Remove the sausages. Drain the liquid into another pot (no more thickening). Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the cabbage and fry for a few minutes, stirring. Then add a glass of sausage decoction and simmer, stirring frequently, until the cabbage is soft (more liquid can be added, from the eye, so that the cabbage will cook but not too much moisture). After about 15 minutes. add honey, vinegar, salt, pepper and fry for another 5 minutes, stirring. Put the cabbage in a bowl and serve, for example, with sausages. As a garnish, it is also suitable for other meat dishes. These cabbages are delicious and cold.
Rich history of the Merkin mansionė
The Merkinė mansion had more than one owner. In different periods, the territory was ruled by the elite of the GDL government, people like Mykolas Glinskis, Jurgis Radvila, Stanislovas Astikas, Bona Sforca, Mikalojus Radvila, Vladislovas Vaza IV, Mykolas Kazimieras Pacas, Kazimieras Jonas Sapiega or Motiejus Oginskis. It was the golden age of the city. The Merkinė mansion was then the center of the nursing home.
The Merkinė mansion also bears witness to the true love story. Almost four centuries ago, the Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Vladislav Vaz IV visited here. Historical sources say that he had special feelings for Merkinė, he spent weeks and even months here, and did not always want to go to Vilnius. It is not surprising, because here the ruler had accommodated his great love Yadvy Luzhkovsky, here his illegitimate son Vladislav Konstantin grew up.
XVIII c. At the end of the 19th century, eighteen wooden buildings stood on the territory of the mansion, but none have survived to this day. Now here are two 1897. Red brick buildings were built, which housed a soap factory and several made of wood. Until 2014 the Merkinė nursing home was located here.
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