Rietavo Šv. arkangelo Mykolo bažnyčia

The church of Saint Michael Archangel - a Catholic church in Retów.

This is one of the largest churches in Lithuania. The Neo -Roman building, in the Venetian style.

Funded by Ireneusz Ogiński, who allocated half a million rubles for the construction of. The construction began in 1853 and completed in 1874. The project was prepared by architect Gąsowski, and the contractor was August Stüler, architect of the Prussian king.

The building, built on a cross plan, is a three -nave basilica, with a transept, a presbytery with three floors and a five -wing apse. Above the intersection of the nave and transept, an octagonal drum covered with flattened dome was built. The facade of the church contains the arcaded main portal and two side portals. Above the main entrance there are a row of columns and a rosette. Additional decorations are arcaded niches and an arcade frieze. Transept fronts are similarly decorated. On both sides of the front facade there are high, four -sided towers, covered with pointed roofs.

Inside the temple, tombstones of Ireneusz Ogiński and his wife Olga, a fresco depicting St. Archangel Michael and a huge chandelier. The stained glass windows were made after 1945.