The Cathedral of St. Anthony of Padua () is a Roman Catholic cathedral in

Telšiai Telšiai (; Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Telšē'') is a city in Lithuania with about 21,499 inhabitants. It is the capital of Telšiai County and Samogitia region, and it is located on the shores of Lake Mastis. Telšiai is one of the ol ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, seat of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Telšiai The Roman Catholic Diocese of Telšiai () is a suffragan Latin diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan of Kaunas, one of two in Lithuania. History The diocese was established on 4 April 1926 on territory split off from th ...

History

The history of the church dates back to 1624 when

Deputy Chancellor of Lithuania The Chancellor of Poland ( - , from ), officially, the Grand Chancellor of the Crown between 1385 and 1795, was one of the highest Offices in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, officials in the historic Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. This o ...

Paweł Stefan Sapieha established a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

monastery and built a wooden church on the Insula hill in the centre of

. A new spacious brick church was constructed between 1762 and 1794. It was consecrated in 1794 by the suffragan bishop of Samogitia, Fr Tadeusz Józef Bukaty (). In 1802 renowned

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

architect Jan Boretti obliged to construct two towers and a narthex. However, for unknown reasons he built only the narthex and failed to complete the work of towers. Franciscan monastery was dissolved in 1853 by the Russian tsar and the church became parish church. Romualdas Leščevskis became the first secular parish priest in 1854. The tower was built in 1859. In 1893 architect Piotras Serbinovičius designed the fence and gates of the churchyard. After the establishment of the

in 1926, the church became a cathedral. Three Bishops of Telšiai,

Justinas Staugaitis Justinas Staugaitis (14 November 1866 near Šakiai – 8 July 1943, Telšiai) was a Lithuanian Roman Catholic bishop, politician, educator, and author. He was one of the twenty signatories to the Act of Independence of Lithuania. Biography ...

Vincentas Borisevičius Vincentas Borisevičius (23 November 1887 – 18 November 1946) was a Lithuanian Roman Catholic bishop of the Telšiai Diocese. The process of his beatification was initiated in 1990. Born to a family of well-off Lithuanian farmers, Borisevičiu ...

and Pranciškus Ramanauskas, are buried in the cathedral's tomb. Bishops Petras Maželis, Juozapas Pletkus and Antanas Vaičius are buried in the churchyard. In 1938 Czech master and organ builder Otto Kratokvil built a modern organ. This large manual and foot-operated Romantic-style organ has 22 registers and is machine-made. The keyboard and mechanical parts were manufactured by various western firms and the wooden pipes were made in

Šiauliai Šiauliai ( ; ) is a city in northern Lithuania, the List of cities in Lithuania, country's fourth largest city and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, sixth largest city in the Baltic States, with a population of 112 581 in 202 ...

. In order to commemorate the 600th anniversary of baptism of

Samogitia Samogitia, often known by its Lithuanian language, Lithuanian name ''Žemaitija'' (Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see Samogitia#Etymology and alternative names, below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five ...

, artist Romualdas Inčirauskas decorated the doors of the cathedral with the Samogitian baptism story. The crypt was also reconstructed.

Architecture

The cathedral reflects features of

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

and

Classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthe ...

. Its plan is rectangular. It has one tower and a three-wall

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

. The cathedral's

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

is bordered by two aisles, separated by

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

. Two-sloped roof provides the cathedral with slender proportions. It also has a tower above the eastern facade. The exterior of the building is laconic and restrained. The modest width of the side facades is divided by original pairs of windows: smaller oval windows light the lower gallery and the upper part has tall narrow windows. The space between the windows is divided by the pilasters. The interior of the cathedral is spacious and light. The pillars which support the gallery are modified visually by the arches which link them and surround the chancel. Profiled wall columns, cornices and the installations form an organic part of the interior. Artist Jurgis Mažeika designed two altars beside the pillars and in the presbytery as well as the pulpit while artist Tomasz Podhajski () designed three altars in the second storey and the central altar. Telšiai Cathedral is the only church in

which has a two-storey altar. The churchyard gates are designed as a tripartite triumphal arch with ornamental decoration: the complex cornices, vaults and niches reflect the harmony of neo-baroque and neo-renaissance forms typical of fin-de-siecle historicism. in 2005 the sculptures of St. Anthony of Padua (patron of the cathedral) and St. Stanislaus (patron of Telšiai city) designed by Arūnas Sakalauskas were constructed to the churchyard gates.Meno ženklai
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Interior gallery

Telšiai Cathedral 3, Telšiai, Lithuania - Diliff.jpg Telšiai Cathedral 2, Telšiai, Lithuania - Diliff.jpg Telšiai Cathedral 1, Telšiai, Lithuania - Diliff.jpg Telsiai Kathedrale St. Antonius Innen Orgel 1.JPG Telsiai Cathedral. Altar 3.jpg Telsiai Cathedral. Altar 4.jpg Bishop's crypt of the Telšiai Cathedral in Telšiai, Lithuania in 2019.jpg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Telsiai Cathedral Roman Catholic cathedrals in Lithuania Roman Catholic churches in Telšiai County Roman Catholic churches completed in 1794 Telšiai 1624 establishments in Europe Objects listed in Lithuanian Registry of Cultural Property 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Lithuania Neoclassical church buildings in Lithuania Saint Anthony of Padua churches