Orvydas Garden

Top choice in Lithuania


The Orvydas Garden was the work of stonemason Kazys Orvydas (1905–89) and his oldest son turned Franciscan monk, Vilius (1952–92). The carvings were originally created for the village cemetery in nearby Salantai but were brought here to the Orvydas homestead after then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev turned his wrath on religious objects in the 1960s. The Soviets later blocked access to the house to prevent visitors getting to the persecuted Orvydas family.

Today visitors can walk through the lovely farmstead gardens admiring literally hundreds of statues, carvings, busts and just plain oddities. Three daily buses between Kretinga and Skuodas stop in Salantai and Mosėdis. For the Orvydas Garden get off at the last stop before Salantai and walk about 1km.


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