Discover Giedraičiai on Lake Kiementas

Giedraičiai is a good choice for travelers looking to combine a lakeside setting with walking trails and cultural and historical sites. If you are looking for a hotel for your trip, the different highlights offer a way to explore the area: the landscape, church architecture, and memorial sites each tell a different part of its story.

By Lake Kiementas and on foot

Giedraičiai lies on the western shore of Lake Kiementas. The Piliakiemiai hillfort is on the eastern shore, on the highest isolated hill in a highland area.

Walking trails begin in the courtyard of Giedraičiai A. Jaroševičius Gymnasium. The Giedraičiai route is for pedestrians, not cyclists. It offers views of Lake Kiementas and passes the Šarkiškė Stream, whose banks are steep. Both the views of the water and the stream with its steep banks are among the sights along the route.

The route to the Piliakiemiai hillfort follows the Giedraičiai–Piliakiemiai road. After 1.7 km, there is a turnoff; a further 350 m leads to the hillfort. At the foot of the hill was a 0.2-hectare settlement where smooth and rough pottery was found.

Church, churchyard, and museum

The Church of St. Bartholomew in Giedraičiai dates from 1809. It is Neoclassical and has no tower. The bell tower in the churchyard is different: it is square and two storeys high, with a lower storey of stone masonry and an upper one of wood. The two structures give the church complex a clearly distinct architectural character.

The church’s furnishings include nine easel paintings and valuable organs, installed in the early 19th century. The surviving features thus range from architecture to painting and music. The regional museum opened in 2014 in A. Jaroševičius Gymnasium. Its courtyard is also a starting point for walking trails in Giedraičiai. The gymnasium links the museum site with a starting point for walking trails in Giedraičiai.

Memorial sites commemorating the events of 1920

The Battle of Giedraičiai was fought near the town from November 17 to 21, 1920. A symbolic cannon marks the battlefield and commemorates the fighting.

In the center, on a square beside Vilniaus Street, stands a monument to those who died for Lithuania’s freedom in 1920. It was created by local artist Antanas Jaroševičius and unveiled in 1932. The monument and the symbolic cannon offer different historical points of reference: one commemorates the fallen, while the other marks the battlefield. Together with the church, museum, and walking trails, they make it possible to discover Giedraičiai through both its local history and its landscape.

Discover more destinations: Alanta, Užpaliai, Girsteitiškis, Utena, Rimšė, Dubingiai, Molėtai, Šilinė

For the regional travel overview: Utena County.