Page 280 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Estonia Latvia & Lithuania

278  LITHU ANIA REGION B Y REGION

3 Šeduva Holy Stairs was modelled on
the Scala Sancta (Holy Stairs) in
Road Map C5. * 3,000. £ from
Šiauliai, Panevėžys. @ from Šiauliai, Rome. Each of the steps, which
Panevėžys. pilgrims mount ed on their
knees, contains a sacred relic
The little town of Šeduva brought here from Jerusalem
is a composite of wooden in the 1730s.
houses preserved as a historic
monu ment. One of its main
sights is the twin-towered 5 Šiluva
Church of the Holy Cross. Built Road Map C5. * 800. @ from
in 1649, the church elegantly Šiauliai. _ Šilinės Pilgrimage (Sep).
blends Renaissance and
Baroque elements. Šiluva is one of Lithuania’s great
Šeduva’s most delightful spot pilgrimage places. Legend has
is the mid-19th-century estate it that 400 years ago, the town
of Prussian Baron Otto von Crucifix above the altar, Friary of the was the site of a miraculous
Ropp, located 2 km (1 mile) east Blessed Virgin Mary, Tytuvėnai apparition of a weeping Virgin
of town. Aside from the original Mary holding the infant Jesus
redbrick build ings, which have 4 Tytuvėnai in her arms. In the late 16th
given the estate the local name Road Map C5. * 3,000. £ from century, as Šiluva became
Raudondvaris (Red Manor), Šiauliai. @ from Šiauliai. ∑ trp.lt Calvinist, its last priest buried a
there is a school and a hotel, bundle of Catholic documents
and the lakeside grounds are a Once the site of a 13th-century and a miracle-working painting
pleasure to stroll through. hilltop fortress, Tytuvėnai of the Virgin Mary in an iron
became the secluded setting for box in the grounds of the
Environs a magnificent monastery and ruined church.
The grounds of Burbiškis Manor, the church of the Friary of the In 1610, the Virgin Mary
12 km (7 miles) east of Šeduva, Blessed Virgin Mary in the appeared, standing on a rock
are decorated with sculptures of 1630s. The buildings were before children tending their
lions, fauns and historical figures created for the Franciscans herds. The box was later
created in 1912 by sculptor and set amid rolling hills and discovered by the rock and, as
Kazimieras Ulianskas. A dazzling tranquil lakes. The courtyard of fame about the apparition grew,
display of tulips adorns the the monastery is decorated with a woo den chapel was built
manor grounds in spring, when faded frescoes, while a beautiful close by. It was replaced in 1785
the Tulip Festival is celebrated. painting on the wooden sacristy by the Church of the Nativity
door depicts the Resurrection. of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
+ Burbiškis Manor The highlight of the church’s The painting of Mary, now
Burbiškis village. Tel (422) 42 001 colourful interior is an elabo rate embellished by a golden frame,
or (673) 69 836. Open 11am–8pm altar encircled by four Baroque was hung on the altar. The
Wed–Sun. & _ Burbiškis Tulip figures of Franciscan saints. In painting is concealed, except
Festival (mid-May). the grounds, the Chapel of the on feast days, by a 1920

Bright evening view of the lakeside buildings at Raudondvaris, near Šeduva
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp306–307 and pp330–31

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