Regions of Lithuania

Last Updated on Saturday, 07 January 2012 15:46

Regional differences of Lithuanian culture reflect complicated historical develop- ment of our country.

Lithuania is justly proud of its unfailing treasures of folklore: colourful clothing, meandering songs, an abundance of tales and stories, sonorous dialects and voluble language. This ethnographic heritage is nourished by ethnographic and folklore companies and barn theatres. Recent years have witnessed the revival of ethnographic crafts and culinary traditions. Folk craft fairs and live craft days are organized during many events and festivals.Since the 13th century five ethnographic areas, or regions, have historically formed in the currentterritory of Lithuania:

  Aukštaitija (the present north-eastern and eastern part of Lithuania) Aukštaitija is the biggest ethnographic region of Lithuania. People used to live here in free planned homesteads or street-planned villages, where dwelling houses were situated along the road and outbuildings – in the back of the yard. The Aukštaitija National Park still accommodates 40 of such exotic “live” (inhabited) villages. 

Vivid and bright colours prevail in traditional textiles and national costumes of this region. People still sing thousand-year-old sutartinės of Aukštaitija (ancient polyphonic songs). These songs have retained their archaic musical and poetical form. The tunes of these songs witness their ancient origin and elaborate polyphonic language speaks of high musical culture of those days. These polyphonic songs represent an exceptional phenomenon not only in Lithuanian but in the world’s folklore too. Along with vocal music Aukštaitija people enjoyed original instrumental polyphony performed by pan pipes and horns.

It’s hard to tell whether Aukštaitija people started singing or tasting beer first. Aukštaitija, especially Biržai district, is known as the land of brewers. Biržai castle is home to the Beer Museum and three breweries of the town offer different brands of beer. A big industrial brewery Utenos Alus is located in Utena, another town of Aukštaitija. Rich culinary heritage of Aukštaitija is a member of the Culinary Heritage Europe, so if you want to try some traditional specialties of the region – follow the sign Culinary Heritage.

Žemaitija is the ethnic region located in the current north-western part of Lithuania. The town of Telšiai is considered to be the capital and Varniai – the second most important town of Žemaitija region.

The formation of a separate Žemaičiai tribe in the central part of current Žemaitija ended around the 5th century. Žemaitija was first mentioned in Volhynian (Ipat'evskaya) Chronicle in 1219 in the description of the Peace Treaty between Lithuanian and Volhynian Dukes. Of all Lithuanian ethnic groups in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania only Žemaitija enjoyed independent eldership rights that remained valid for almost 400 years.

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The turn of the 20th century saw the formation of the notion of Žemaitija based on the Žemaičiai dialect and the territory inhabited by them. The boundaries of today’s Žemaitija region were set pursuant to this notion. Žemaitija people are also said to be stubborn and faithful.

The merriest holiday for Žemaitija people is Shrove Tuesday. Masqueraded as different characters and wearing masks of bogeymen and animals they visit their neighbours, tell the future harvest from the weather, cast and draw lots and in the evening put the jackstraw of the old maid Morė, the symbol of winter’s hardships, on fire. Copious eating, especially pancakes, is a must for the year to be wealthy.

When visiting Žemaitija one has to try traditional foods and drinks: mint tea, dried apple kvass, sauerkraut stew with pig leg, wheat stuffed pig bowels, potato pancakes, festive curd whip or maybe herring or onion soup? Noblemen dishes will be much fancier.

Dzūkija is the most infertile but the woodiest region of Lithuania. Thus, the wood was and still is the major source of income for the majority of population. In earlier times people used to cut trees, make timber, produce rail ties, float rafts, make household articles; they used to fish in spring, pick berries and herbs in summer, hunt and pick mushrooms in autumn. Dried mushrooms were sold even to merchants from distant Russian lands, while today dried, pickled and fresh frozen mushrooms and forest berries from Dzūkija are delivered as delicacies not only to the stores in Lithuania but also in Western Europe. In Dzūkija hollow honey is still available as some beekeepers still continue the old hollow beekeeping traditions.

Dzūkija has retained most of its ancient crafts. Many homes, furniture and utensils are handmade. The region is proud of its carpenters, potters, blacksmiths, wickerwork makers, wood carvers and masters of black ceramics. Girls from Dzūkija can also work miracles; they are the most creative weavers in Lithuania, also good at knitting, embroidering and straw tatting.  Textile from this region is full of flowers and leaves as in the attempt to capture nature’s beauty. And the beauty of Dzūkija’s nature is really exquisite. Majestic forests dotted with lakes, rivers rumbling with streams and marshy glades colonized by various fauna. A few ethnographic villages dating back to the 17-18th centuries look like inhabited museums.

Since ancient times Dzūkija has been mentioned as the land of songs, where everybody sings, the young and the old.  Old singers-soloists still remember and know hundreds of old songs and pass them over to numerous folklore groups. It is said that the songs of Dzūkija are the most sonorous, the psalms are the saddest and the laments are the most pathetic. People of Dzūkija are real song-lovers; they sing at work and in the wedding, sing psalms while christening a baby and lament during funerals. Such is the character of the hospitable people of Dzūkija.

Sūduva (Suvalkija) ethnographic region of Lithuania, is situated in the southern and south-western part of the country on the other side of the River Nemunas, therefore it is often called Užnemunė (the other side of the Nemunas). During the tsarist occupation in 1866-1915 Užnemunė was annexed to the Province of Suwalki (a town in northern Poland close to the Lithuanian border). That name (Suvalkija) of this region still used from these times lost its meaning long ago.

Sūduva covers the ethnic lands of the Sūduviai (Sudovians) having separated from the Jotvingiai (Yotvingians or Yatvingians), a big Baltic group, around the middle of the 1st millennium. The Sūduviai were earliest mentioned in written sources of all the residents of the current Lithuanian ethnographic regions, in the 2nd century, in “Geography” (sudinoi) by scientist and traveller Claudius Ptolemy; for another several hundred years, however, the Sūduviai were often named the Jotvingiai as well.  Since the beginning of the 1st millennium the Sūduviai have been mainly engaged in agriculture. The fact that serfdom was abolished in Sūduva earlier than in other regions of Lithuania, fertile lands favourable for farming as well as diligence of people made the region’s inhabitants the richest Lithuanian farmers of the 19th-20th centuries. Furthermore, the region had most probably the largest number of educated people at that time–even 6 of 20 signatories to the State Reestablishment Act of February 16th came from Sūduva. Jonas Jablonskis, creator of standard Lithuanian and author of several grammar books, and Vincas Kudirka, author of the Lithuanian anthem, were also born in this region.

The Sūduviai  are characterized as rational, clever and extremely economical people. There are lots of anecdotes about their fist-tightness; one of them goes that the Sūduviai cut the tails of their cats away in winter in order a lesser amount of cold is admitted into the house when they go out and come in. The Sūduviai bake delicious bread on Acorus calamus leaves; they are fond of singing monophonic songs having meandering melodies. The region is home to the oldest in Lithuania ensemble of the kanklės (an ancient Lithuanian string instrument) players.

Sūduva is the region of wide plains and fertile lands where one would hardly find even a stone.  Homesteads surrounded by trees look like green islets in the wide open spaces of fields. Apparently all rocks and hills have gathered in the south-western part of Sūduva by the beautiful lake of Vištytis (Vištytis Regional Park is located here).

Sūduva is crossed by the European Northern-Southern highway Via Baltica. Kalvarija Customs-house represents the most important national gateway to Poland and Western Europe; Kybartai is also one of the most important customs-houses on the Lithuanian-Russian border.

 Minor is the birthplace of Lithuanian written works: the first Lithuanian book, the first Lithuanian grammar, and the first book of collected songs were printed here. The first Lithuanian group of regional studies was also established here. Its prime task was to collect Lithuanian folklore and research into the Lithuanian language. The first Lithuanian schools were opened here.

The first Lithuanian Song Festival was held on the Rambynas Hill (in Rambynas National Park) in 1895 by the initiative of the prominent cultural figure of Lithuania Minor, choir leader and writer Vydūnas.

Lithuania Minor boasts diverse nature of unique beauty and an abundance of fascinating places. The region includes one of the most beautiful landscapes of Europe–UNESCO heritage site–the Curonian Spit (the Curonian Spit National Park), charming by the harmony of sands, forests and waters. Other unique sites include the Nemunas delta with a plenitude of islands, an old Rusnė town, and Minija (Mingė) village having a river instead of a central street, a seaside settlement Kintai, and Ventės Ragas with an ornithological station as the great bird migration path goes through these areas. The old lighthouses of Uostadvaris and Ventės Ragas look like soldiers on guard.

The most archaic part of the land’s heritage is represented by wooden folk architecture. Houses, porches and barns are distinguished by impressive decorations including ornamentally carved weathervanes crowned with pairs of small horses (Lith. žirgeliai) or some other lėkiai (Lith. sg. lėkis– a decorative carved board). In ancient times people used to believe that lėkis protects against the evil. Weathercocks somewhat resembling lėkiai were attached to the mast tops of kurėnas (an ancient fishermen’s boat) and would indicate the belonging of the ship to some particular village.

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