Church of Apostle Evangelist St. Matthew in Anykščiai ( lt, Anykščių Šv. apaštalo evangelisto Mato bažnyčia) is a red brick

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

church in

Anykščiai Anykščiai (; see other names) is a ski resort town in Lithuania, west of Utena. The Roman Catholic Church of St. Matthias in Anykščiai is the tallest church in Lithuania, with spires measuring in height. Anykščiai has a resort status i ...

, Lithuania. The Church is situated on the right bank of the

Šventoji River Šventoji (literally: feminine gender of ''the holy'') can refer to these objects in Lithuania: * Šventoji River, 246-kilometer long tributary of Neris *Šventoji River (Baltic), 73-kilometer long tributary of the Baltic Sea *Šventoji, Lithuania ...

. The twin

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...

s of the church, each in height, make the church the tallest in Lithuania. The brightly colored stained glass windows were the creation of Anortė Mackelaitė, the well known stained glass artist of Lithuania, between 1971 and 1986.

History

Anykščiai was first mentioned in written sources in 1442. The first church built before 1500 was a wooden structure. Following the construction of the Catholic Church, the town was mentioned as a city with

Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within ...

in 1516. The church was destroyed by fire in 1566 and 1671, but quickly rebuilt. The decaying wooden structure was replaced by a brick church, built in 1765. An accompanying white four-storey bell tower was completed in 1823. Following the construction of the narrow gauge railway line between

Panevėžys Panevėžys (; Latin: ''Panevezen''; pl, Poniewież; yi, פּאָנעװעזש, ''Ponevezh''; see also other names) is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. As of 2011, it occupied with 113,653 inhabitants. As defined by Eurostat, the population ...

and

Švenčionėliai Švenčionėliai () is a city in Švenčionys district municipality, Lithuania. It is 10 km west of Švenčionys Švenčionys (, known also by several alternative names) is a town located north of Vilnius in Lithuania. It is the capital ...

in the 19th century, the parish was re-developed and the church was re-built over a ten-year period between 1899 and 1909. The original spires were in height, but they were purposefully destroyed during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The falling towers also damaged the roof; the interior, including the main altar and portions of the archives, was devastated by a fire in 1928. This prompted reconstruction of the church. The spires were rebuilt, but their height was lowered by 5 metres. There is also a legend related to the Puntukas stone, a famous stone in Lithuania. According to this legend, the devil wanted to destroy the church by dropping a heavy stone on it. However, early crowing of a rooster prevented this happening and the stone fell away from the church. It is now a visitor attraction.

Architecture

The present church building consists of twin towers, both of which are 79 metres in height. The building was built in red bricks in the Neo-Gothic architectural style. The floor plan follows the basic principles of

cathedral architecture The architecture of cathedrals and great churches is characterised by the buildings' large scale and follows one of several branching traditions of form, function and style that derive ultimately from the Early Christian architectural traditi ...

: it has two aisles and

groin vault A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: Lau ...

s. The church façade has stained glass windows which were installed between 1971–1986, credited to Marija Mackelaitė. Artistically decorated

altars An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganism ...

and the pulpits are seen inside the church. A statue of St Matthew is installed behind the large cross in the main altar. Inside the church, apart many elegant altars there are also statues and paintings. The church also has a large organ which was bought in 1998 from Shirley Baptist Church,

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. Rimas Idzelis, an amateur artist, installed Stations of the Cross on the churchyard fence in 1982–1988. The church is surrounded by a park. In 1993 a monument was built for the Lithuanian poet and bishop

Antanas Baranauskas Antanas Baranauskas ( la, Antonius Baranovski, pl, Antoni Baranowski; 17 January 1835 – 26 November 1902) was a Lithuanian poet, mathematician and Catholic bishop of Sejny. Baranauskas is best known as the author of the Lithuanian poem '' An ...

(1835–1902), native of Anykščiai and author of the famous poem '' Anykščių šilelis'' (The Grove of Anykščiai). Sculptor Arūnas Sakalauskas and architect Ričardas Krištapavičius were awarded the

Lithuanian National Prize The Lithuanian National Prize ( lt, Nacionalinė kultūros ir meno premija), established in 1989, is an award granted for achievements in culture and the arts. It has been awarded annually in six categories since 2006 (between 1989 and 2006 there w ...

for the monument in 1994.

Notable people

Juozapas Čepėnas (1880–1976) was pastor of Anykščiai from 1938 to 1945. During that time he protested

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

and

Nazi occupation of Lithuania The military occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany lasted from the German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 to the end of the Battle of Memel on January 28, 1945. At first the Germans were widely welcomed as liberators from the re ...

. Monsignor Albertas Talačka (1921–1999), former pastor of Anykščiai Church, bequeathed his private library of over 4,000 books and art collection to the town and parish of Anykščiai. The art collection is on permanent displayed of Center of Sacral Art in Anykščiai.

References

External links

Official website of Anykščiai parish
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anyksciai Church Roman Catholic churches in Lithuania Buildings and structures in Utena County Tourist attractions in Utena County Objects listed in Lithuanian Registry of Cultural Property