Baroque Buildings of Liubavas Manor Converted into Museum

The buildings of the 18^th century baroque architecture ensemble of Liubavas Manor have been revived for a new life. The financial support of the European Economic Area and the Republic of Lithuania has created possibilities to conserve the objects of Lithuanian cultural heritage and adapt them for cultural and public needs. The buildings of the central representation part - servants' quarters (officine)/treasury and orangery have been conserved and adapted for the needs of the museum.

The project was implemented by Public Institution Europos Parkas; Liubavas Museum of History, Cultural and Technical Heritage founded by the Public Institution in the watermill of the manor has been operating since 2011. The officine and the orangery of the manor accommodate museum expositions. The Museum implemented the project in co-operation with the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) that has a lot of experience in the sphere of cultural heritage research and employs skilled specialists and experts.

The project was a very complex one because the buildings that are unique in the European context have been repeatedly converted, their condition was poor; the aim was to conserve every detail of heritage and symbol of time, the peculiarities and architectural characteristics of the period of construction have been examined in depth.

Educational workshops for owners of cultural heritage objects, renovators and heritage management experts were held during the project. The international scientific conference Rapolas Slizienis, a Bridge Between Borderland Nations attracted strong public attention, a book containing the materials of the conference and other previously unpublished materials was published (compiled by Gintaras Karosas, published by Europos Parkas, 2017, 152 p.), general information is also provided in Polish, Belarusian and Russian languages on the website of the Museum liubavas.lt.

Situated near Vilnius, Liubavas Manor is among the oldest ones in Lithuania, its history dates back to the early 15^th century, the period of reign of Vytautas the Great, it is associated with many of the most prominent historic personalities of our nation – Goštautai, Sigismund Augustus, Radvila "the Red", Tiškevičiai, Slizieniai, etc. The talented Lithuanian sculptor Rapolas Slizienis (1804–1881) lived and worked in Liubavas Manor.

In 2012 Liubavas Manor Watermill Museum has been recognised as one of the best examples of European cultural heritage conservation. It has received the highest award – European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage and Europa Nostra Award for fine restoration.

An event presenting the results of the project will be held at 12:00 AM on Sunday, 30 April, 2017 in Liubavas Manor (Liubavas village, Vilnius District); during the event all those who are interested will be able to have a tour of the objects which have been the restored and converted into a museum as well as share their project implementation experience. Admission is free and you are kindly invited to attend.

Events of the project "Conservation of Liubavas Manor Officine and Orangery and their Adaptation to Cultural and Public Needs", Sunday, 30 April, 2017.

Address: Officine of Liubavas Manor, 50, Malūno St., Liubavas Manor, Liubavas village, Vilnius District Municipality

Schedule of events

11:00 AM       Press conference

12:00 AM       Presentation of the completion of the Project

02:00 PM       Community function

For more information about the event please visit www.liubavas.lt

Public Institution Europos Parkas, phone +370 5 2377077, muziejus@europosparkas.lt

Project manager Gintaras Karosas, phone +370 698 30925

www.eeagrants.org

www.eeagrants.lt

More information on the project