- Place
- Zarasai District Municipality
- Region
- Zarasai District
- Type
- timber church and Tiberias Community monastery complex
- Address
- Baltriškės, Dusetos Eldership, Zarasai District
- Coordinates
- 55.67554, 25.97351
- Visit duration
- 45-90 minutes
- Best time
- before Sunday Mass at 11:00 or by prior arrangement
Baltriškės St Casimir's Church, Baltriškės St Casimir's Rectorate
From temporary chapel to the 1920 church
Temporary worship premises opened in Baltriškės in 1913, a rectory followed in 1919 and the present St Casimir's Church in 1920. Adomas and Elena Zavadskas supported the project by donating a valakas of land and construction funds.
During the Second World War a shell damaged the ceiling and a wall without exploding. The bells were hidden, while the tower, conspicuous from a distance, was dismantled during the war.
Timber church and interior
Folk timber architecture meets classical features in a two-stage tower about 20 metres high, capped by a pyramidal roof. A masonry and fieldstone wall encloses the modest rural churchyard.
Inside are three altars, including a ship-shaped high altar; the church also holds relics of St Casimir and John Paul II, a large Crucifix, and an altar with an Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn painting moved from Vencavai.
The Tiberias Community
The Tiberias Community settled in Baltriškės in 2001. The church was renewed in 2009-2011, a post belfry with three bells followed in 2012, and the church was consecrated on 9 June 2012.
Church, churchyard and the community's monastic setting form one complex. Residential and monastic spaces are not all public; the community controls access.
Visiting St Casimir's Church in Baltriškės
The diocese lists Sunday Mass at 11:00. Arrange interior, group or monastery visits in advance; the complex has no permanent tourist hours or ticket price.
Follow the community's arrangements on arrival: not all monastic spaces are open to visitors, and overnight or extended pilgrimage visits need advance agreement.
