Utena

 

Utena started developing at a rapid pace after Lithuania became an independent state in 1918. In several years, 400 houses were constructed and around 30 km of streets were built. A market place housed 34 shops and 3 mills were in operation. 

The oldest building of Utena that survived till the present is the Post-office Station in the Classicist style (1835). The Russian tsar Nicholas I with his son Alexander, the Russian painter Ilya Repin, the famous French writer Honore de Balzac visited the station and exchanged their horses here. Presently, the building of the Post-office houses Art School and Picture Gallery. Utena boasts the nice Ascension Church of the 19^th century in Neo-Baroque style, whose interior is decorated with valuable works of the Italian school painters and local masters. Utena region had plenty of folk artists who would sculpture the crucifix. The Utena Local Lore Museum stores a rich collection of wood carvers’ works, which has been collected since 1929. The oldest sculptures made by cross makers date back to the 17^th-19^th centuries.

 

Utena is crossed by the rivulets of Utenėlė, Krašuona, Vieša and Rašė, and adorned with two of the District’s 186 lakes, the tranquil Dauniškis and Vyžuonaitis. The Kloviniai Pond and the Hill of Wedding, where folk artists put up sculptures representing scenes from the old Lithuanian wedding ceremonies, attract crowds of holidaymakers. Utena County boasts Lithuania’s oldest Aukštaitija National Park rich in lakes, forests and ethnographic villages.

 

The Aukštaitija Culinary Heritage is a member of the European Culinary Heritage. Utena is also famous for its tasty beer.