Alytus District Municipality
Dzūkija
old Dzūkija lake town with a church and hillfort
Daugai, Alytus District
54.35980, 24.34450
1.5-3 hours
late spring to autumn; in summer, rest by the lake
Daugų miestelis
An old town by the lake
Daugai is one of Lithuania's oldest towns, located on a peninsula of Lake Daugai about 22 km east of Alytus. VLE states that already in the fourteenth century Teutonic Order forces passed through Daugai on campaigns toward Trakai and Vilnius, making the place important at a medieval route junction.
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, a fortified hunting manor of Lithuanian dukes operated here, and in a 1503 privilege of Grand Duke Alexander, Daugai was already called a town. Later it received market and town rights, so its history reaches deep into the beginnings of the Lithuanian state.
Church and old square
In the centre stands the Church of Divine Providence, a towerless masonry church built in 1862 with modified Gothic features; beside it is a separate two-storey wooden belfry. The church preserves valuable artworks, including old altar paintings and sculptures.
The heart of Daugai is the historic market square, whose rectangular part formed as early as the mid-sixteenth century. Around it survive mostly one-storey early twentieth-century houses, so the centre still keeps the atmosphere of an old Dzūkija town.
Hillfort, lake, and memory
East of the town, on a lake peninsula, stands Daugai Hillfort, also called Sala or Pilaitė Hillfort. Its steep slopes and lake view recall that this place was both defensive and strategic. Daugai Stone is also nearby.
Daugai is also important in twentieth-century history: after the Second World War a large partisan formation operated in the area, becoming part of the Dainava district resistance. The town and its surroundings are therefore a place of both nature and freedom-fight memory.
How to visit
Daugai is an open town best seen on foot: the square, church, old streets, and lakeshore. A visit usually takes 1.5-3 hours; in summer Lake Daugai also offers rest, swimming, or boating.
Daugai Hillfort and the stone are near the eastern edge of town and can be reached on a short walk. The best season is late spring to autumn, and the visit is easy to combine with Alytus-region sights.
