Through the doors of time

This route invites you to take a trip, during which you will see the main – both existing and already gone – objects in the center of Kretinga town. The journey begins in the Town Hall Square. In the middle of the Square, there once stood a Town Hall and a church later on. Unfortunately, now we can only see these objects in the remaining documentation. In the southern area of the Square, there is a now rebuilt Monument of Independence, and it is simply impossible to miss the compact, extraordinarily beautiful Evangelical Lutheran Church with its prominent stone walls situated in the southeast corner of the Square.

On the northern side of the Town Hall Square, beyond the parking lot, a red granite Monument of Jonas Karolis Chodkevičius, the founder of Kretinga, shall unlock the doors between history and the modern-day town. To the left of the Monument, towards Vilniaus street, below the ground lie the stones of a former sacred place. They were discovered by the archaeologists. Next, the route will take you to Vilniaus street and towards the Catholic Church. On the other side, you will be greeted by a yellow Bank building. This is the only surviving interwar banking history monument in Kretinga.

Across from the Bank building, there is a small square. In this square, there is a Monument of Jurgis Pabrėža, a famous Franciscan. There are gates very close to this Monument, beyond which you will find Kretinga Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. After crossing the churchyard and J. Pabrėžos street, you will come across Pastauninko Stream Valley where the Lourdes Grotto, established by the Franciscans, lies. The Grotto is visited by the prayers, and various events, gatherings and feasts take place beside it. After leaving the Lourdes Valley, the route will take you back towards Vilniaus street and up a flight of stairs. There, you will approach a large white building – the Mansion of St. Anthony, which is renown for its controversial historical events. Nowadays, the Kretinga Franciscan Gymnasium is established in this building.

The length of this route is 1 km. It will take you about 40 minutes to complete it.