Alytus City Municipality
Dzūkija
children's poet's house-museum with a sculpture park
A. Matučio g. 8, Alytus
54.39760, 24.05181
30-60 minutes, including the sculpture park
year-round; the sculpture park is nicest in the warm season
Anzelmo Matučio muziejus, Matutis house-museum
The poet's home by a pine grove
The Anzelmas Matutis Memorial Museum occupies a red-brick house in Alytus beside a pine grove; even the street is named after the poet. It is an authentic place where one of Lithuania's best-loved children's poets lived and worked, preserving the atmosphere of his life and writing.
The museum is a branch of the Alytus Regional Museum. Its core is the second-floor study, chosen by Matutis because it looked out toward the pines. The room preserves authentic interiors, a library, personal objects, and a large collection of letters.
Who was Anzelmas Matutis
Anzelmas Matutis, real surname Matulevičius, lived from 1923 to 1985. VLE describes him as a Lithuanian teacher and children's poet who graduated from Marijampolė Teachers' Seminary, taught in Dzūkija, and settled in Alytus in 1950. His poems are known for playful sound, nature imagery, and inventive language.
Matutis wrote more than thirty children's books, including Girios televizorius, Margaspalvė genio kalvė, and verse fairy tales. His book Margaspalvė genio kalvė received the international H. C. Andersen Honour Diploma in 1984, making him the only poet in the Soviet period to receive that diploma.
Sculpture park in the pines
The museum experience continues outdoors. Across the street, in the pine grove, a sculpture park presents wooden figures based on characters from Matutis's works. Walking among the pines can feel like stepping into the world of his poems.
This combination of house and park makes the museum especially suitable for families: indoors you meet the poet's life and books, outdoors his lines become figures in the landscape. Literature, nature, and play meet here.
How to visit
The museum is easy to reach in Alytus, near the pine grove, and the visit can be combined with a walk through the sculpture park. Most visits take 30-60 minutes; the sculpture park is most pleasant in the warm season.
During research, visiting was listed on working days and admission was free, but opening hours can change, so check the official museum page before travelling. It is easy to combine the museum with other Alytus culture and history sites.
