Šakiai District Municipality
Suvalkija
private thematic museum
Bažnyčios g. 34, Kudirkos Naumiestis, Šakiai District
54.77680, 22.86110
45-60 minutes
warm season; by advance arrangement
Bulvės muziejus, Bulvių muziejus
Potato Museum: a monument to the everyday potato
The Potato Museum is the first and only museum in Lithuania entirely dedicated to the potato. It is not set in a village homestead but in Kudirkos Naumiestis itself, at Bažnyčios g. 34, inside a repurposed former town pumping station. It is a cheerful, distinctive thematic museum about a plant without which Lithuanian cooking is hard to imagine.
The museum was founded in 2019 by agronomist Jonas Valaitis, who spent many years growing potatoes. According to his own story, long ago he promised that at the end of his life he would build a monument to the potato, and he kept that promise. This is a private museum conceived and looked after by one person.
What you will see
The museum is arranged across three floors. The first floor tells the history of the potato: how it reached Europe, how it is grown, planted at different spacings, hilled, and stored. Nearby are old farm implements, including harnesses, harrows, wheel rims, and household objects, as well as a collection of about 300 horseshoes gathered from fields over more than twenty years and a collection of Colorado potato beetles.
The second floor has a viewing platform over the surroundings, while potato-variety tastings are held in the cellar. Outside stands a wooden monument to the potato about two metres high. Some attractions mentioned by visitors are worth checking locally before relying on them.
Kudirkos Naumiestis around the museum
The Potato Museum is in Kudirkos Naumiestis, a Zanavykija town by the Šešupė, close to the border with the Kaliningrad region. The town is named after Vincas Kudirka, author of "Tautiška giesmė" and a figure of the Lithuanian national revival, so it is worth discovering for more than the potato alone.
The Vincas Kudirka Museum operates in the same town, and monuments to Dr Vincas Kudirka also stand here. That makes it easy to combine the playful thematic Potato Museum with a more serious introduction to local and national history.
Visiting
This is a private museum, so it is best to arrange a visit in advance by calling, especially in the warm season. Admission has been listed as free, while potato tastings cost about 4-5 EUR per person. Because the museum is cared for by one person, opening times may change, so the safest plan is to agree by phone.
About an hour is enough for the visit, longer with a tasting. It is convenient to combine the museum with the Vincas Kudirka Museum in the same town and with a wider Zanavykija route to Zypliai Manor and the Zanavykai Museum. Keep in mind that detailed official information about this private museum is limited.
