Page 262 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Estonia Latvia & Lithuania

260  LITHU ANIA REGION B Y REGION

View of the Nemunas river and surrounding area from the fort-hill at Merkinė, near Dzūkija National Park
7 Dzūkija National scenic hamlet of Liškiava, at the the city and the Dzūkija forests
Park southwestern edge of the park. to the south. In the centre, the
Dzūkijos nacionalinis parkas The 14th-century castle that Museum of Local Lore has a
stood here defended the Grand collection of 65,000 antiques.
Road Map D6. £ from Vilnius to Duchy against the mighty The bridge across the Nemunas
Zervynos, Marcinkonys. @ from Vilnius Teutonic Knights. Another has a bas-relief depict ing a
to Merkinė. n Vilniaus 3, Merkinė, striking landmark is the domed battle that occured here
(310) 44 641. Headquarters: Miškininkų 18th-century Holy Trinity between Lithuanians and
61, Šilagėlių 11, Marcinkonys, (310) 44 Church, with a rich interior Bolsheviks in 1919. It
466. 8 English-speaking guides
arranged in Merkinė, Marcinkonys. featuring seven late Baroque claimed the life of Antanas
∑ dzukijosparkas.lt altars. A series of frescoes Juozapavičius, the first
depicting images from the Lithuanian officer to die in the
This densely forested park history of Christianity were indepen dence struggle. His
covers 550 sq km (212 sq miles) covered in plaster in 1823 and tomb lies by the Guardian
of countryside. Besides an were only restored in 1997. Angels’ Church.
enormous area of ancient pine In Marcinkonys, a village Much of the city centre was
forest in the sandy Dainava 8 km (5 miles) south west of destroyed in 1941. Soon after, all
plain, the park also covers Zervynos, a track leads south- the city’s 60,000 Jews were
sweeping bends in the wards to Čepkeliai killed in Vidzgiris Forest, a site
broad Nemunas Valley. Reserve. This area marked in 1993 by a monument
More than 200 species protects the country’s of a broken Star of David.
of flora and fauna are most extensive marsh, Gravestones in the city
protected in the park, which stretches into cemetery remember the Jews.
including many rare Belarus, and the migra-
species of stork. tory birds that stop here.
The few villages that Paths and raised wooden
are located in the park walkways reach
offer a glimpse of White stork, Dzūkija observation platforms
Eastern European life National Park offering great views.
that has remained the
same for a century or more.
The ethno graphic reserve of 8 Alytus
Zervynos is on the park’s Road Map D6. * 62,000. £ from
eastern edge. Kaunas. @ from Vilnius, Kaunas.
The ancient settlement of n S.Dariaus ir S.Girėno 1, (315) 52
Merkinė lies at the confluence 010. ∑ alytus.lt
of the Nemunas and Merkys
rivers. A fort-hill, the site of a Lithuania’s sixth-largest city
14th-century castle, offers began as a hilltop fortress
extensive vistas of the park. where the tiny Alytupis river
Another fort-hill overlooking trickles into the Nemunas. The Mass of crosses in the churchyard of
the Nemunas river is in the hill still offers views of both Guardian Angels’ Church, Alytus
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp305–306 and pp328–30

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