Stelmužės Viešpaties Jėzaus Kryžiaus bažnyčia
Facts and practical information
St. Cross in Stelmžė - Catholic church in Stelmožė. The church is the oldest preserved wooden temple in Lithuania.
The Catholic church founded by the Foelkerzambów barons was built in 1650. In 1727 the owners of the local property rebuilt the church and handed over to local calwines. In 1808 the church was returned to Catholics. After 1945 closed, and after renovation a branch of the Museum from Rakiszek was placed in it. Returned by Catholics in the early 1990s.
A building on a rectangular plan, with a pentagonal presbytery, sacristy and vestibule, narrower than the nave. A portico with twelve columns and a triangular pediment leads to the entrance. The building is covered with a high roof covered with shingles.
In the interior, an altar and pulpit from the beginning of the 17th century have survived. Next to the church stands a wooden, two -storey belfry from the mid -seventeenth century, rebuilt in 1873.
The church is surrounded by a court park in which the oldest oak in Lithuania grows.
Utenos