Renavas Manor

At the end of the 17th century, the manor was sold to a French-German family of Renė (Rönne) with roots in Bremen, Germany. On the initiative of Antanas Renė in 1830–1833 the present-day Renavas manor ensemble, attributed to the period of late classicism, was built.

Renavas manor is associated with the uprising of 1863. Here a rebel party was gathered and lead by Liudžinskis, the steward of the manor. Active cultural life took place at the manor: the orchestras of the dukes Oginski gave concerts here multiple times; it was visited by the most prominent people of the period: the painters, writers and politicians. The manor was famous for its garden and an English style park covering the area of around 18 hectares. The manor's library was known as unique. It had over 1,000 volumes of books (most of them nicely bound, in German and Latin). Before World War I, there were attempts to grow silkworms and to establish a farm of silkworm cocoons at the manor.

After the war, the palace was turned into the office of a soviet farm, a library and a centre of culture. In 1985, Renavas manor was restored for the first time. The renewed Renavas manor house, as previously, holds a permanent exposition of the representational interior of the manor, which introduces the visitors to the Lithuanian manor culture of the 19th century: its interior, some pieces of furniture, paintings, etc. The exposition is presented by Lithuanian Art Museum.

Website: www.renavodvaras.lt