The New Žagarė Church of St Peter and St Paul. - Joniškio turizmo ir verslo informacijos centras

The New Žagarė Church of St Peter and St Paul.

Historically, Žagarė formed as a mix between the Old (nobleman) and New (royal), separated by the River Švėtė. Both parts of Žagarė had their own shrines. The New Žagarė Church of St Peter and St Paul building complex is a regional cultural heritage of archaeological, architectural and artistic value of the first half of the 17th-20th centuries (No. 43298). The state-protected complex consists of: the Church of St Peter and St Paul, chapel, chapel pole and the churchyard fence with the Stations of the Cross oratories. The New Žagarė Church (the wooden predecessor of the current one) was first mentioned in 1592-1597. The current brick shrine was built in 1643-1655 and has a valuable original architectural structure that has survived to this day. The shrine suffered greatly from the fire of 1805 that started during a mass and nearly destroyed the whole city.

The Church is white-plastered, gable-roofed church of exterior stone and brickwork, and a gabled tin roof, and is a Renaissance and Baroque structure of harsh monumental forms with buttresses. The shrine has a single nave, with a square, large defensive tower and a sacristy. The Church’s interior is decorated with five wooden altars, out of which the high altar is considered to be one of the most artistic altarpieces in the Classical style in Lithuania. The sanctuary contains valuable sacred paintings from the 17^th and 18^th centuries, both with and without frames (The Holy Family, St Laurence, The Vision of St Anthony and other). The windows are decorated with stained-glass windows of rare artistry in the Art Nouveau style, created in 1910 in Warsaw by the master craftsman Jan Gumowski (The Sacred Heart of Jesus and The Blessed Virgin Mary of Grace), and the walls are decorated with a cycle of paintings of the Stations of the Cross, and one of the altars – a gilded wooden sculpture of the Crucified – is listed as a locally important art monument.

GPS:56.359432, 23.258321

1 Miesto Square, Žagarė. Joniškis district