Duke I. Vasilchikov’s estate complex

The Jurbarkas estate is a state-protected cultural property. The constructions and objects of the 19th century: south and north officinas, the church, a farm-hand building, a farm building, a dragoon club, fence fragments with gate posts and the park.

In 1659 the estate was moved further from the Nemunas. In 1795 Ekaterina II gave the Jurbarkas precinct to Platon Zubov. Sometime around 1821 he built a new manor, probably according to the project of the architect Ponchini. In 1845 Nicholas I gave the keys to the Jurbarkas manor to the Chairman of the State Council I. Vasilčikov.I in 1851 the estate passed to Vasilchikov’s son Ilarion, and in 1870 to his son Sergej. The Dukes Vasilchikov rebuilt the manor.

The two-story brick mnor was the composition center of the classical ensemble. The manor was built in neoclassical style, about 50 m long and 15 m wide. The building was decorated with four red brick columns. It had a protruding quadrangle bay on the eastern side, and a round one on the western side. There were the main entrances with steps on both sides and also the back doors, probably for servants.

The southern part of the mansion most likely had an annex for economic purposes, where a laundry room and a furnace were located. Water drain pipes were concreted around the outer walls of the palace. The most beautiful part of the mansion was the round hall where the dukes received their guests. Two officinas stood perpendicular to the nanor.  A new bed of the Mituva River was dug so that it would flow past the manor.  During the World War I, the manor was burned down.

In 2013 the remains of the foundations of the manor were excavated and in 2015 the columns were rebuilt. On the paths of the manor park, embedded stone slabs appeared in some places to mark the sites of former buildings.

During the rule of the Vasilchikovs in the second half of the 19^th and beginning of the 20^th century the territory of the manor was surrounded by a red brick wall. The manor was accessible through two tall, wide iron gate. You can see the pillars of the eastern gate and after entering through them, you find yourself directly in front of the central manor of the estate. There are more fragments of the wall, but only one gate has survived.

The Jurbarkas Regional Museum operates in the northern officina of the Vasilčikov’s manor, now it is a guest house. It is a two-story building of a rectangular plan in the style of late classicism. The facade is decorated with arcades. In the building unique interior of the second part of the 19^th century has survived.

During the period of independence of Lithuania, this building belonged to a gymnasium, where Petras Paulaitis, one of the organizers of the resistance to the occupiers, was teaching. The museum was founded in 1991. The exhibits collected by teachers D. and V. Norkaičiai in Girdžiai became its basis. In 1996 it was registered as a municipal museum. In 2010 it was renovated and the exposition was updated. Among other things, you can build your castle here and fight with Crusaders.

The southern officina of the manor is identical to the southern wing of the palace, with the same rectangular plan, of late classicism (neoclassicism) style and with arcades on the facade. This one is not as ornate in the inside as the northern one, as it was intended for the residence of higher-status servants, perhaps as an office of the manor.  Now the tourism and business information center and the Jurbarkas office of the agricultural consulting service are located here.