Tytuvėnai natural pearls: a unique devil’s path, a spruce corridor and a 42-meter well in the lake

Celebrating its 725th anniversary this year, the Tytuvėnai region is famous for its mountainous, swampy and lake landscapes. One of the most unique natural symbols of this region are the types of rocks with heritage object status, which are the only ones in Lithuania that appeared after the last melting ice age.

Wondering what the hell that guy is? The answer was given by Vytautas Stonys, Director of the Tytuvėnai Regional Park. a specialist acting as director.

According to him, during the last cherry, 10 thousand. years ago, Lithuania had an ice thickness of about 200 meters. That ice crushed the earth’s crust and, when it left Scandinavia, it brought with it stones, gravel and sand.

“When it melted, the ice broke. The crevices of the crevices were flooded with huge currents of water that washed away the moraine from the bottom. Therefore, only the largest faction remained in that place: the stones brought from Scandinavia, which had previously been part of the glacier, were frozen in ice. In other words, a ridge is a stretch of stone, a long stone embankment. Only in one dialect is it called that, “explained V. Sttonys.

Not all have survived

According to him, there were many types of stones of this type in the vicinity of Tytuvėnai. But where the fertile land was, people, of course, took those stones: who used them for construction, who used them for some broken products. So many rocks were destroyed by people, but a few that were in the forest, in the swamps, survived.

“It is unique. There are hardly any more in Lithuania, only in the Tytuvėnai Regional Park. It starts here and continues to Šiauliai. The park occupies 18 thousand. hectares would occupy around a fifth of the park’s territory, ”said the interlocutor.

It is true that there is a legend about the formation of ridges in the Tytuvėnai area. Tvardauskis is said to have lived in the Tytuvėnai mansion. He agreed with the demons that they would make a stone path for his soul from Tytuvėnai to the Pašiaušė mansion.

“And the demons carried the stones in the forests and in the lakes. Suddenly, when the roosters fell, they threw the stones. This is how the stone walls appeared, called the Devil’s Paths, “V. Sttonys told the legend.

Currently, only a few sections of stone remain. All of them, in the forests, where people did not interfere with the activities. In 2015, a unique cognitive trail was adapted and installed on one of these surviving rock types.

We invite you to get acquainted with the Scandinavian stones and we, it is true, if you go to the Kiaunori forest during the heat, you may also feel sorry – intrusive biting insects will not allow you to enjoy nature in peace. They are more abundant this year than ever, and when they are “hungry” they support the cattle even when they arrive.

From fire to construction

Walking along the 1.3 km long Akmenų Rūžai Nature Trail, you will get acquainted with a unique geomorphological object formed by a glacier, a mysterious and diverse world of stones. After all, since time immemorial, stones have been an integral part of human life.

Information on the educational trail is presented not only on the installed stands, but also on illustrations and real stone compositions.

Walking along the path you will see boulders with mythical signs, graves that were used in ceremonies, sacrificed in them. You will learn what the stone was useful for at home: to use for crowbars, cheese pressing, fire lighting, ancient burial, threshold, without this material it was not possible and when installing the foundations of buildings, masonry walls, create details of finish.

It is worthy of an example of the magnificent stone church of Salakas.

Weapons for hunters and soldiers were made of stone, roads were paved with crushed boulders, and grain had been ground with stone mills for centuries.

Sculptures and monuments have been created from stones for a long time, so you will see many works of art on this educational trail.

The possibilities of using stones seem limitless. Not surprisingly, a historical period is called the Stone Age.

“Children like the exhibition more, which tells how the ancients used stones for sports. Since ancient times, men competed with each other and showed their strength by charging, throwing and rolling stones. They are based on the ice skating of the Olympic game (otherwise curling) and at least 4 thousand. One of the oldest strategic board games, Go, has been known for years, ”V.Stonys introduced.

After working on the educational trail and its visitors, many “energy” stone towers were featured.

At the beginning of the trail, and at the end of it (in a circle), there is a campsite with a fireplace, which is especially popular with hunters.

V.Stonys drew attention to a very interesting display – a large stone, which in ancient times someone tried to break in half, but failed. That part of the stone did not separate as necessary.

“Imagine a stone in the middle of a forest that once touched human hands thousands of years ago,” the park manager intrigued.

A mysterious spruce corridor.

Tourists have yet to discover another natural curiosity in the Tytuvėnai region. It is located in the village of Medsodžiai, next to the Papušynas forest – it is an impressive looking spruce corridor, where you will really want to share it on Instagram after taking the photo.

As you enter this alley of fir trees, you feel like you are in a strange world of fairy tales.

“I once took a bike ride and decided to come here with people. Everyone was impressed with this broker. There are trees, natural monuments, but they have grown and formed a corridor … Unique ”, smiled V. Stony.

That corridor extends up to 100 meters and appeared around the 1970s.

“Fir seedlings remained, so the foresters planted them. Planted at different times. Initially, the spruces were cut, later, they surrendered. This place is an old eiguva,” presented V. Stony.

Peat raised the city

Together with the head of the regional park, we go to the highest place in Tytuvėnai – the 15-meter-high observation tower built on Majakas Hill in 2007.

From it, rapeseed fields are opened and in them technological tracks such as mythical ornaments are driven, peat bogs are exploited, from which the mob traveled to Kaunas and Vilnius. Now the peat bogs have become inaccessible jungles, filled with water, covered with bushes and reeds and, as V. Sttonys jokes, the people of Tytuvėnai are still waiting for the big cities to pay compensation for these losses of land resources.

“He started excavating in 1959. The peatlands extend for 7 km and are 2-3 km wide. Abandoned now because it can no longer compete with the Belarusian mob. During the Soviet era, Tytuvėnai was famous for the mob. When he opened a peat bog, he built a new school in Tytuvėnai and an apartment building, a peat company, built a narrow gorge in the swamps. Tytuvėnai took a second breath. Many professionals, workers have moved to live. It was a huge boost for the city, “recalled V. Stonys.

According to him, calculations have been made: if we put all the peat excavated here on one step, then that step would be about 4 thousand. Kilometers long.

In the distance, the district of Radviliškis, its border stretches along the edge of the swamp. Šiluva is also visible. On a clear day, you can even see the peaks of Šiauliai’s apartment buildings.

Previously, a triangulation tower stood on the site of the Tytuvėnai tower, due to the excellent visibility in all directions from the hill rising out of the plains.

The Tytuvėnai cycle route passes the observation tower, so it and other attractions can be visited by bike from Tytuvėnai on a 14-kilometer route. Although there are two lakes nearby (which the bike path passes through), they are not visible from the observation tower.

The Tytuvėnai Regional Park also attracts another 21-meter observation tower, but it is already in the Radviliškis district.

Lake with a 42 meter deep well

The Tytuvėnai region is famous and is highlighted by a unique chain of 4 lakes (Bridvaišis, Gilius, Apušis and Gauštvinis), like the small Zarasai.

“In the interwar period, Tytuvėnai wanted to obtain resort status, but war broke out and plans failed,” said V. Sttonys.

Tourists are often attracted to swimming in Lake Bridvaišis on the territory of the city, others – to walk around the Bridvaišis mound on the north shore of the lake. At the mound, the Tytuva stream flows from the lake, from whose name it is assumed, and the name Tytuvėnai originated.

The heavily visited beach covers an area of ​​approximately 1.5 hectares. It is equipped with a dock with trampoline, changing rooms, benches, sandbox, volleyball courts, grill, table with benches, outdoor bathroom, parking.

It is possible to rent paddles, water bikes and a water park. The bravest can also try the electric waterways, which develop in the water at more than 40 km / h. speed (one hour will cost 80 euros).

“In the past, there was little in Bridvaiitis, Gilius Lake was more popular, but when the shores were cleaned, people started pulling. A cycle route surrounds the Sedula Resort, which has a hotel and a restaurant.

The uniqueness of this lake are several shallow places where you can go down: depth – one meter each, and another place … Near the beach there is a well with a depth of 42 meters! It is located about 300 meters from the beach. We would build a 13-story house, all under water, ”the park manager revealed an interesting fact.

This year, a new villa for guest accommodation opened its doors to this lake. Since ancient times, a house in ruins was located here: the owner changed, the image also changed.

The “Nendrė” farm was also built, so that Tytuvėnai is able to offer more and more accommodation places near the body of water.