The Plungė Church

The Church of St. John the Baptist was built in 1933, in Plungė. It is a brick Neo-Romantic style church with two towers. Its layout represents the Latin cross. A brick fence surrounds the churchyard.

In 1570, a foundation was established to help fund the building of the first church of Plungė. In 1590, this church was handed over to the Evangelical Reformats. In 1617, Žygimantas III has once again granted the Old Plungė Church some funds for it to be rebuilt. The now Roman Catholic church was rebuilt by Jeronimas Valavičius, the owner of the Plungė Manor. The Kapsūdžiai village (47 voloks of land) and another 5 voloks and 20 margas within Plungė were granted to the church, so that its funding could be guaranteed.

In 1674, the elder of Plungė, Martynas Krišpinas-Krišenšteinas, began the supervision of the new Roman Catholic Church, which he funded himself. The church was built in 1687 and was immediately consecrated by Kazimieras Pacas. The aforementioned church stood for 120 years.

In 1777, Plungė became an independent parish. It was well-known due to the fact that it was one of the wealthiest parishes in Samogitia. In 1797, the citizens of Plungė built a new wooden church, which was very large and greatly decorated. It was named after St. John the Baptist. The church was consecrated by Juozapas Arnulfas Giedraitis in 1810.

The construction of a new brick church in Plungė was started in 1899. The location chosen for the brick church to be built at was the courtyard area next to the old wooden church. In 1905, the base of this church was consecrated by Mečislovas Paliulionis, a Samogitian bishop. The construction of the new church took a long time – 28 years. It was built in accordance with Steponas Stulginskis’ project. Construction works continued until 1915. At this point, the brick walls reached the level of the windows and construction was discontinued. Povilas Pukys, a priest (later – a prelate), who has arrived to Plungė, resumed the construction works in 1928. In 1933, the Plungė Church was consecrated by Justinas Staugaitis. The interior finishing works continued until 1940. Having built the new church, the old wooden was demolished a year later, in 1934.

Source: Lietuvos katalikų bažnyčios / Kazys Misius, Romualdas Šinkūnas. – Vilnius, 1993. – p. 386-387.