THE STELMUZE
ECCLESIASTICAL ART MUSEUM
Address
Stelmuze Village, LT-32295, Zarasai Region.
Tel. +370-385-52456.
Hours of Operation
Tuesday - Sunday: 10.00 a.m. - 6 p.m.
The Stelmuze Church and bell
tower
Mr.
Folkerzambo, owner of the local estate, built the Church of the Holy Cross
in 1650. The church is wooden and was constructed without nails. In the
beginning it was Calvinist, a mission of the Latvian Ilukstes church, and
it didn’t become a Catholic church until 1808. In 1880 the much-neglected
church was renovated.
The wooden altar, the crucifix and the ambon, which is decorated with nice
wooden carvings, together dominate the chapel, which has many Classical
features. Sculptural décor prevails in the altar composition. It has a
large variety of floral- and figure-shaped motifs, bas-reliefs and
round-shaped sculptures. The top and bottom of the ambon are decorated
with rows of carved acanthus leaves surrounding the bas-relief sculptures
of the twelve apostles. The roof under the ambon, which is decorated with
angels and acanthus leaves is especially marvelous.
Some of the sculptures were made by the Venspilis village wood-carving
masters in 1713. In the western part of the courtyard there is a beautiful
bell tower with well-balanced proportions dating back to the middle of the
17th Century. On the southwest side the bell tower has a ground floor
only, but on the northern side it is two-storied. The bell tower was
renovated in 1873.
Stelmuze park features the famous two thousand-year-old Stelmuze oak tree
and a slave house, which stands on the outskirts of the park. The house is
not large, masoned from rustic field stones and containing holes toward
the tops of the walls. Insubordinate peasants were held here during period
when peasants were forced to work without compensation.
Photographer Danute Mukiene
