Lithuania
Užutrakis Manor House
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Užutrakis Manor House is one of the most prominent and best-preserved mansions in Lithuania. The restored manor and park ensemble on the shore of Lake Galvė will allow you to experience how the Lithuanian nobility lived in the 19thcentury.
Count Józef Tyszkiewicz and his wife Jadwiga founded the Užutrakis Manor Estate at the beginning of the 20thcentury. The Count was inspired by the unique landscape of Trakai, and the manor made the most of the area’s potential.
The Palace, decorated with impressive Louis XVI style interiors, was created by Polish architect Józef Huss. It was complete with a terrace, crowned with open pavilions, offering a fabulous view of Trakai Castle. The park was designed by Édouard FrançoisAndré, a famous French landscape architect. He created a mixed style park decorated with copies of antique sculptures and a large number of plants. The park still contains nearly 100 different kinds and forms of trees and shrubs, more than half of which were individually transported here to complete the park.
Today, the estate is accessible by road, but the Count’s family did not use it. It was only used for agricultural purposes and was known as ‘the Potato Road’. The nobles used to reach the peninsula by a ferry raft, crossing the isthmus between Lakes Galvė and Skaistis, and the rafter lived nearby. The Tyszkiewiczes hosted numerous receptions, family reunions or friendly parties, but even then, their guests did not use the road either. The events were characterised by loud music, the tables were laden with French cheeses produced on the estate and the drinks were from the local distillery. More often than not, there was a locally grown roast pheasant in the middle of the table!
The Užutrakis Manor House belonged to the Count Tyszkiewicz family before World War II. During the Soviet occupation, the manor was nationalised and turned into a sanatorium, later it served as a pioneer camp, and then it became a tourist base. The manor was severely damaged: the original design of the Manor was destroyed, and the park was completely abandoned.
Today, Užutrakis Manor House is coming back to life. The manor is being restored and the park is being rebuilt. Concerts and exhibitions are often held here, and the Užutrakis Manor ensemble is now one of the most visited places in the region.
