Summary

Architecture of sacred and parish buildings in the area of Kazlų Rūda

Marija Rupeikienė, Antanas Rupeika

There is a Catholic church in Kazlų Rūda, an old and new cemetery, as well as buildings belonging to the parish. The former old houses that belonged to the church as well as the synagogue that stood in the town have not survived. The church project was drafted in 1924 by Stasys Kimonas. The church is a building of the interwar period, original, unconventional wooden architecture notable for eclectic forms; the interior is dominated by elements of equipment of order style forms. The Jewish community had a plot remote to the southeast of the church, near Esperanto Street. A wooden synagogue stood at the north end of the plot, and there was a wooden bathhouse with a masonry firebox at the south end. Between the synagogue and the bathhouse, near the western line of the plot area, there was a firewood shed and lavatory next to it.
In Ąžuolų Būda, there are Catholic church, cemetery, parsonage (formerly alms-house) with community centre and three outbuildings. The structure of the church plan is laconic; the exterior is of simple primitive architecture, with a tower of monumental proportions. The interior is dominated by original arcade galleries above the side naves. The parsonage homestead is located to the east of the church. It consists of a parsonage, a well and three outbuildings: a granary, a barn and a cowshed.
In Barzdai, there is a Catholic church and a parsonage homestead. The church was designed by architect Vytautas Landsbergis-Žemkalnis and Vaclovas Michnevičius (Wacław Michniewicz). The built Barzdai church is different from the one designed by Michnevičius. The exterior of the church is dominated by forms typical of neo-Romanesque style, and the interior is dominated by the eclectic connection of medieval styles (neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque); there are also stylised decor elements close to the order architecture. The buildings of the parsonage homestead: the parsonage, the outhouse and the alms-house are located on a spacious plot, between the churchyard and the cemetery.
In Braziūkai, there is a church, a cemetery and a parsonage; the complex is located away from the settlement, on a higher place. The church is of laconic architecture; stylised order forms of the Middle Ages and Modern Times are intertwined in the interior, with details characteristic of ethnic architecture.
In Gražiškiai, there is a chapel in the eastern part of the cemetery. The folk forms of late Baroque and early Classicism intertwine in the architecture of the chapel. The altar is of ornate modified neo-Baroque forms, with order elements and openwork carvings.
Nemirai has a church, a cemetery, a parsonage barn and an alms-house cowshed. The parsonage and the alms-house did not survive. Church, cemetery and parish outbuildings are located away from the village, on level ground. A church is with a tower of graceful proportions, modern interwar forms, with bright stylised neo-Baroque architecture details; a distinctive feature is a very high open porch. The interior space is laconic, without exclusive details. The barn is small, quite wide, of traditional simple architecture. The cowshed is interesting due to its rarely seen structural and spatial solution.
In Plutiškės, There is a church, a bell tower, a cemetery and a community house; the former parsonage did not survive. The church features an unconventionally constructed double-walled apse space and original interior components. Bell tower is of traditional ethnic architecture; its details are combined with the architecture and decor elements of the church.
In Višakio Rūda, there is a church, a cemetery, a spring with a spring chapel; the former synagogue did not survive. There is a parsonage, a barn, an alms-house, a smaller barn and parish outbuildings. The spring chapel is of traditional ethnic architecture; it is similar to the Žečkalniai chapel. The exterior of the church combines neo-Baroque forms and stylised details characteristic of Classicism. The interior is also patchy; stylized features of the Middle Ages, neo-Baroque and neo-Classicism, as well as decor elements characteristic of ethnic architecture can be seen.
In Žečkalniai, a chapel in the cemetery already stood in the mid-19th century. It is a building of traditional ethnic architecture.