The best traffic-free bike rides in Rėkyvos Botaninis Zoologinis Draustinis

A stop here is sure to be a win. From the lovely campsite, beautiful bike tours through forests and along lakes are possible. Stick to the bike paths, side routes are sometimes very strenuous. Hilly terrain and natural routes require a good bike.

Couldn't find any info about it. Looks nice anyway :) Big rest spot around.

The three-stemmed Napoleon pine is one of the most impressive in Kurtuvėnai Regional Park. Height – 22 m, trunk circumference – 3.3 m, diameter – over a meter. It is believed that this tree could be about 300 years old. It is said that Napoleon's treasure is hidden under the pine. At dusk, the wind rises in that place and a brown dog barks. Therefore, people built a chapel in the pine.

This stone used to lie in a swampy part of the Kurtuvėnai forest near Rimas Hill. It was saved from destruction by a resident of the village of Mekiai. The man kept it in his homestead for several decades. In 2008, at the initiative of the Kurtuvėnai community, the stone with the “Footprint of God” was brought back and placed near its former location, at the foot of Ribiškės hill. People used to say that God descended from heaven and left his footprints on the stone. Others believed that angels flew and stamped their footprints on the stone. Footprint stones are called footprint stones because of their elongated depressions 10–40 cm long, 4–15 cm wide, and 2–7 cm deep (rarely larger). Some resemble a barefoot or shod human foot, while others resemble the footprints of animals and domestic animals. https://www.siauliurajonas.lt/lankytinos-vietos/akmuo-su-dievo-peda/

The manor barn located in Kurtuvėnai Regional Park is a unique value of Lithuanian wooden architectural heritage. It is believed that the barn was built from pine logs at the end of the 18th century by the serfs of the Nagurskiai manor. For more than 200 years, the Baroque-style building has amazed with its size, two-tiered roof with semicircular dormers, an unusual recessed gable and gallery, arched beams, and blacksmithing. The barn survived both world wars – during the First World War, it managed to escape a fire in the manor homestead, and during the Second World War, it was hit by several cannonballs, but the fire was quickly extinguished. In the second half of the 20th century, this building was one of the largest and oldest wooden barns in Lithuania. https://www.pamatyklietuvoje.lt/lankytinos-vietos/kurtuvenu-dvaro-svirnas/539 https://www.siauliurajonas.lt/lankytinos-vietos/kurtuvenu-dvaro-sodyba-1/

The Kurtuvėnai Regional Park Visitor Center is located in the restored Kurtuvėnai Manor Ratisbon building. One of the most interesting visitor centers in Lithuania. Engaging exposition, wonderful staff. The center is located in a picturesque corner of nature with a rich historical heritage. https://www.pamatyklietuvoje.lt/lankytinos-vietos/kurtuvenu-regioninio-parko-lankytoju-centras/26549 https://zemaitijosstd.lrv.lt/lt/veiklos-sritys/regioniniai-parkai-ir-rezervatai/kurtuvenu-regioninis-parkas/

The white towers of the Kurtuvėnai Church rise to a height of 50 m. The architecture of the building combines elements of late Baroque and early Classicism. The interior of the church exudes the restraint of Classicism, but it can also discern aesthetic elements of late Baroque and Neo-Gothic. The construction of the church, completed in 1792, was financed by the owner of the Kurtuvėnai Manor, Jakub Nagusrki (1752-1789). The magnificent building was to become not only the house of God, but also a tombstone for the founder. This is evidenced by the coat of arms of the Nagurski family Pobog above the main entrance. Construction work lasted 9 years. The church project was prepared in 1783 by Martynas Knackfuss (1740–1821), a professor of architecture at Vilnius University and the pioneer of Classicism in Lithuanian architecture. For many years, the Kurtuvėnai church and the manor house formed an architectural complex, connected by baroque forms and compositional axes. The manor house has long since disappeared, and the exterior of the church has hardly changed. At the beginning of the 20th century, the side windows of the main facade were slightly raised, and the balcony opening was bricked up. https://www.pamatyklietuvoje.lt/lankytinos-vietos/kurtuvenu-sv-apastalo-jokubo-baznycia/1228 https://www.siauliurajonas.lt/lankytinos-vietos/kurtuvenu-sv-apastalo-jokubo-baznycia/

This is an old, unusual-looking tree growing on the border of the villages of Girnikai and Pociškės. People say that they used to play near the pine tree. A chapel is built into the tree. Height – 12.5 m, circumference – 3.3 m, diameter – 1 m.