KERNAVE The places of interest There are many places of interest around Kernave. By the Mitkiskes village not far from a small birch grove there looms a stone with marks of feet. It is encircled by iron fence. In old times it was considered to be magic.

A stone with footmarks in Mitkiskes

At the valley of Pajauta

In the surroundings of Kernave rich treasures of ancient coins, among them about some ten year old silver alloys, were found. In these surroundings you can see many old burial mounds. Such a majority of archeological monuments only emphasize the meaning of Kernave for our history. That's why Kernave is sometimes called Lithuanian Troy. Beneath the small round hill, as if poured into the Neris, flows the stream Kernave. On the other side of it tall and luxurian pine trees grow. Behind the hill a fine valley flings open. The most beautiful of all of them the valley of Pajauta ranges along from the Neris hill-side to the depth of the country at the distance of about three kilometres. Among the valleys there grows a thick and impassable forest. One can decide about the trees which grew in the ancient times only by a very big trunk of the dry oak. The diametre of it is almost 5 metres. There are plenty of old oaks in Kernave surroudings.

It is worth seeing a stagnant lake in the farthest end of Kernave from which the stream Kernave has its source. The lake is surrounded by swampy meadows and marshes. The legends tell that in the old times a horrible shark lived there who attacked the animals and beasts which came here to drink. Once a man with bulls drowned there too. That's why the inhabitants began telling...' fell like into the hell' and named the lake Pragarinis (Damned).

The Pragarine-more remains a place of paradise

The stands of the museum... The chapel

The foundation of the museum in Kernave began in 1929. After the war it was extented and got seperate premises. Now it has got 4 departments. In the historic-archeological department there are a lot of various things from the old cemetaries of the district and stone age camps, very interesting collection of numismatics, the weapons of XIX-XX centuries. In the ethnography department there are exhibits marking the mode of life of the inhabitants. In the department of nature one can see very strange accretion of the trees, the nest and stuffed birds. ...and here is the museum itself By the museum there are two interesting, restored chapels. One of them is very old and octagonal, built of logs in XVIII century using only hand-made nails. The other is also octagonal but made of bricks in the last century.