Regions
Lithuania, though being a state with integral territory, is divided into five regions that have formed already back in the 13th century: Aukštaitija (literally Highlands, north-eastern and eastern region), Žemaitija (Samogitia, literally Lowlands, north-western region), Dzūkija (also called Dainava, south-eastern region), Suvalkija (also called Sūduva, southern and south-western region) and Lithuania Minor (sea-coast region).
Even today, these ethnographic regions differ by dialects, certain aspects of living, eating and behavioural styles, while in the more distant past – before the turn of the 19th century – there were pronounced differences in dress and homestead styles as well as village planning.
AUKŠTAITIJA
Aukštaitija, the north-eastern – eastern region, is the biggest ethnographic region of Lithuania. People used to live here in granges or ribbon villages, where dwelling houses were lined up along the road, with outbuildings in the backyard.
Vivid and bright colours prevail in traditional textiles and national costumes of this region. People still sing thousand-year-old sutartinės, polyphonic songs that have retained their archaic musical and poetical form, and play the pan pipe and horn.
Aukštaitija is also known as the land of brewers. It even has a Beer Museum in the Castle of Biržai, a town which has three breweries offering different brands of beer. Utena, another town of Aukštaitija, has a big industrial brewery of the Utenos Alus brand. As you taste the authentic beer, treat yourself with traditional meals of the region: skryliai (pasta squares), virtiniai (special dumplings), milk soup with pasta balls, pancakes in crackling, curd or sour-cream sauce, rye-bread, smoked meat products. These dishes are a part of the European Culinary Heritage.
Aukštaitija is also called a land of lakes but it is also rich in forests and hills. Cheerful temper of Aukštaitija people is said to stem from remarkably picturesque nature, which has also inspired many story-tellers and poets.
ŽEMAITIJA
Žemaitija is the ethnic region located in the north-western part of Lithuania. The town of Telšiai is considered to be the capital, and Varniai, the second most important town of Žemaitija region. Žemaitija people are renowned as stubborn and faithful folks.
In the early days, Žemaitija was famous for its skilful craftsmen: carpenters who would build houses and make furniture and weaving wheels, coopers, clog makers, shoemakers, tailors, weavers, wheelwrights, blacksmiths, and tanners. Pot-making was popular most of all; in this area, Žemaitija was well ahead of other Lithuanian regions.
The merriest holiday for Žemaitija people is Shrove Tuesday. Masqueraded as different characters and wearing masks of bogeymen and animals they visit their neighbours, tell the future harvest from the weather, cast and draw lots and in the evening put the jackstraw of the old maid Morė, the symbol of winter’s hardships, on fire. Copious eating, especially pancakes, is a must for the year to be wealthy.
When visiting Žemaitija, one has to try traditional foods and drinks: mint tea, dried apple kvass, sauerkraut stew with pig leg, wheat-stuffed pig bowels, potato pancakes, festive curd whip and herring or onion soup.
DZŪKIJA
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Dzūkija, sometimes also called Dainava, is the most infertile but the woodiest region of Lithuania, lying in the south-eastern part of Lithuania between the Neris and the Nemunas Rivers. The wood was, and still is, the primary source of income for the majority of local people. In earlier times, people would cut trees, make timber, produce rail ties, float rafts, make household articles; they would fish in spring, pick berries and herbs in summer, hunt and pick mushrooms in autumn. Dried mushrooms were sold even to merchants from distant Russian lands. Today, dried, pickled or deep-frozen mushrooms and forest berries from Dzūkija are delivered as gourmet food to stores not only in Lithuania but also in Western Europe. |
Dzūkija people are famous for being the best mushroom-pickers |
Dzūkija has retained most of its ancient crafts. Many homes, furniture and utensils are handmade. The region is also proud of its carpenters, potters, blacksmiths, wickerwork makers, wood carvers and masters of black ceramics. Women are probably the most creative weavers in Lithuania and have a talent for knitting, embroidering and straw-tatting.
Dzūkija also stands out by its exquisitely beautiful nature: majestic forests dotted with lakes, rivers rumbling with streams and marshy glades.
It is also called the most songful region of Lithuania: people sing at work and in the wedding, sing psalms while christening a baby and lament during funerals.
SUVALKIJA
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Suvalkija, or Sūduva, is Lithuania’s ethnographic region in the southern – south-western part of the country on the other side of the Nemunas River, therefore it is often called Užnemunė (translates as “the other side of Nemunas”). Since the beginning of the 1st millennium, people of Suvalkija have been mainly engaged in agriculture. Hard-working people and fertile lands favourable for farming made this region Number One in the country by the number of rich and educated people in the 19th–20th centuries. Jonas Jablonskis, the creator of the standard Lithuanian language, and Vincas Kudirka, the author of the Lithuanian anthem, were born in this region. Suvalkija is a land of plains and its people are characterized as rational, smart and extremely economical. If you decide to visit Suvalkija, try their delicious bread baked on Acorus calamus leaves. |
Extremely delicious bread baked on calamus leaves Photo from the archives of the Culinary Heritage Fund |
The region of Lithuania Minor covers the land of Klaipėda: the Curonian Spit, Šilutė and Klaipėda Districts, and a southern part of Tauragė County. From the 16th century to 1918, the current Kaliningrad region (Russian Federation) was also a part of the territory of Lithuania Minor. The Kaliningrad region is the birthplace of the first Lithuanian book, the first Lithuanian grammar, and the first collection of songs.
One of the most beautiful landscapes of Europe – the Curonian Spit, a UNESCO heritage site, is the pride of the Klaipėda region. Other unique sites are the Nemunas delta with a lot of islands, an old Rusnė town, and Minija (Mingė) Village with a river as the central street, the seaside settlement Kintai, and Ventės Ragas with an ornithological station as the great bird migration path goes through these areas. Like soldiers on guard, there stand the old lighthouses of Uostadvaris and Ventės Ragas.
Lithuania Minor stands out by its special wooden folk architecture: houses, porches and barns are distinguished by impressive decorations including ornamentally carved weathervanes crowned with pairs of small horses (Lith. žirgeliai) or some other lėkiai (Lith. sg. lėkis– a decorative carved board). People used to believe that they protect their homes against the evil. The burial places of ancient seaside residents are „protected“ by special crosses, so-called krikštai (sg. krikštas, ancient grave markers made of one board).
LITHUANIA MINOR (MAŽOJI LIETUVA)
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The region of Lithuania Minor covers the land of Klaipėda: the Curonian Spit, Šilutė and Klaipėda Districts, and a southern part of Tauragė County. From the 16th century to 1918, the current Kaliningrad region (Russian Federation) was also a part of the territory of Lithuania Minor. The Kaliningrad region is the birthplace of the first Lithuanian book, the first Lithuanian grammar, and the first collection of songs. One of the most beautiful landscapes of Europe – the Curonian Spit, a UNESCO heritage site, is the pride of the Klaipėda region. Other unique sites are the Nemunas delta with a lot of islands, an old Rusnė town, and Minija (Mingė) Village with a river as the central street, the seaside settlement Kintai, and Ventės Ragas with an ornithological station as the great bird migration path goes through these areas. Like soldiers on guard, there stand the old lighthouses of Uostadvaris and Ventės Ragas. |
Ornithological station built in 1929 and still functioning in Ventės Ragas Photo by D. Labutis / Elta |
Lithuania Minor stands out by its special wooden folk architecture: houses, porches and barns are distinguished by impressive decorations including ornamentally carved weathervanes crowned with pairs of small horses (Lith. žirgeliai) or some other lėkiai (Lith. sg. lėkis– a decorative carved board). People used to believe that they protect their homes against the evil. The burial places of ancient seaside residents are „protected“ by special crosses, so-called krikštai (sg. krikštas, ancient grave markers made of one board).
