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Monument to the Grand Duke of Lithuania Kęstutis

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In 1933, the construction of barracks began in Prienai, which later housed the Lithuanian Army’s Prienai garrison – the 2nd Battalion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Kęstutis Infantry Regiment and the 3rd Artillery Group. In 1937, the first monument to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Kęstutis was erected and consecrated on the banks of the Nemunas River, funded by donations from soldiers and local residents. The monument featured a 7.4-meter-high reinforced concrete pedestal covered in granite, with a 2.5-meter bronze sculpture on top, designed by artist Kipras Ausiejus. Unfortunately, after the Soviet occupation, around 1954, Soviet army soldiers demolished the monument, and its remnants were buried.

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Monuments
Prienai
Prienai Public Institution

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54.631965, 23.949025

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it was so damaged that restoration was not possible. Nevertheless, on February 16, 1990, the monument to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Kęstutis was rebuilt at a new location – near the Prienai Bridge. The new monument stands approximately 10 meters tall with a bronze sculpture on a granite pedestal. The sculptor was G. Kamarauskas, and the architect was K. Lupeikis. At the unveiling of the "resurrected" monument on February 16, 1990, poet Justinas Marcinkevičius remarked: “Dear fellow citizens, you have unearthed more than just the monument to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Kęstutis. You have unearthed your independence, freedom, memory, and raised them on the banks of the Nemunas so that all who pass by or travel through will see and know that here live people who draw strength and courage from the honorable past of their nation.”

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