Pakruojis District Municipality
Aukštaitija
restored cap windmill-museum
Malūno g. 4, Stačiūnai, Pakruojis District
55.93930, 23.62990
30-45 minutes by prior arrangement
warm season, by prior arrangement
Stačiūnai windmill-museum, Stačiūnai Mill
An 1890 cap windmill
Stačiūnai Windmill in Pakruojis District is a wooden cap windmill built in 1890 and one of the area's more expressive mills. It stands out because its ground floor is built of fieldstone with decorative elements, while the upper floors are wooden and topped by a sheet-metal-covered cap.
It is the only windmill in Pakruojis District with an internal cap-turning mechanism: the cap is turned into the wind from inside, not by an external tail pole. Today it functions as a small community museum of milling and old household life.
Construction and owners
The mill is of the cap type, often called Dutch, where only the upper cap turns rather than the whole body. It is an octagonal, four-storey structure, and its combination of stone masonry and timber is rare in Lithuania.
The mill belonged to the Laurušas family; different sources give the precise owner sequence differently, so it should be presented cautiously. The sails turned the millstones until 1938, when the mill stopped operating.
Restoration and exhibition
During the Soviet period the mill was used as a warehouse and later abandoned. In 1987 the cap was re-covered and the walls were renewed. In 2004 Pakruojis District Municipality, using European Union structural funds, prepared a reconstruction project. The mill was restored, and in 2006 an exhibition of old household life and milling was installed.
Inside, visitors can see millstones, milling and sieving equipment, and old household objects collected by the local community. The mill is recognised as a technical monument and has been entered in the Cultural Heritage Register since 1993.
Visiting
The windmill is maintained by the community, so visitors are accepted by prior arrangement rather than through regular opening hours. Arrange a visit by phone with the Stačiūnai community.
Allow about 30-45 minutes. The visit combines well with the Pakruojis area's windmill route and Pakruojis Manor, but note that the manor windmill from 1823 is a separate object.
