Plungė between parkland and cultural heritage

Park paths, ponds and old trees

The visitor route through the park begins at the main entrance near the Plungė District Tourist Information Centre. Along the way, you can enjoy views of cascade ponds, old trees and shrubs, and the palace visible between the trees. The route thus combines the natural setting of the park with views of the architecture of the former estate.

Duke M. Oginskis had seven cascade ponds created in the park of the Plungė estate. Stone bridges or sluices connect the ponds, and the Babrungas River also flows through the park. In the central part of the park, near the Oginskis Palace, stands the Perkūnas Oak. It was declared a natural monument in 1960. If you enjoy discovering different park features during your stay, you’ll find water, trees and shrubs, and one especially notable natural monument to look out for here.

Art museum and estate heritage

The Žemaičiai Art Museum is housed in the palace of Mykolas Oginskis. It preserves and nurtures the traditions of Mykolas Oginskis’s estate, linking a museum visit with the history of the place. Guided tours in English or Russian are available for groups; groups may have no more than 25 people, and the price is 20 euros.

M. K. Čiurlionis is also part of the estate’s musical history: from 1889 to 1892, he studied at the orchestra school of M. M. Oginskis’s estate in Plungė and also played the flute in the orchestra there. A monument to Čiurlionis stands in the park beside the palace of Mykolas Oginskis, symbolising the connection between the two figures. This makes it possible to link the history of art and music with a visit to the park, while recognising that the two subjects tell different stories.

Clock tower and town history

Plungė’s clock tower is twelve metres high and is considered the town’s oldest red-brick building. Its clock has only one hand, and a bell rings every hour. In appearance, the tower resembles a smaller version of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. Following restoration and reconstruction work in 2012, the Plungė Clock Tower Library moved into the building.

Another distinctive building is the Neo-Romanesque Church of St John the Baptist. Its floor plan is in the shape of a Latin cross, and it has two towers. The present-day stone church was built between 1902 and 1933 to a design by engineer Steponas Stulginskis, who had revised Karl Strandman’s original design. The bell tower is an integral part of the church complex; Count P. Zubov had it built in 1850. The building history thus includes different construction periods within the complex.

Chapels, a grotto and places of remembrance

The old cemetery in Plungė is home to the stone Catholic Chapel of St John the Baptist, also known as the All Saints’ Chapel or Zubov Chapel. It was built in 1858 in the Romantic Classicist style. A restored Lourdes grotto with a copy of the statue of the Virgin Mary was solemnly consecrated on 20 October 1990. These places add further religious and historical points of interest to the church architecture.

The Monument to Freedom commemorates a decade of Lithuanian independence: it was erected in 1928, demolished after the Second World War and rebuilt in 1992. M. K. Čiurlionis and Sof. Čiurlionienė-Kymantaitė lived in Plungė’s old rectory in 1909. Together with Čiurlionis’s years of study, this place offers another way to explore local cultural history.

Which holiday rental suits your stay?

Think about which discoveries you’d like to shape your stay, and choose a holiday rental to suit your own plans for each day.

You can also discover other destinations at this level: Varniai, Rapaliai, Ubiškė, Plateliai, Gečaičiai, Mažeikiai, Luokės Seniūnija and Telšiai.

Return to the overview of the wider area: Telšiai District.