Lithuania has installed two memorial wayside crosses near Warsaw to honour painter and composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis at the site where he died more than a century ago, the Department of Cultural Heritage said.
The artistic-sacral composition, made up of traditional wooden wayside crosses created by folk artist Antanas Vaškys, was installed in Marki, near Warsaw, close to the former Red Manor. The works were inspired by Čiurlionis’ 1909 painting Samogitian Wayside Crosses.
Čiurlionis died in Marki, then known as Pustelnik, on April 10, 1911, after spending his final days in a sanatorium-hospital located on the site.
“The idea to commemorate Čiurlionis emerged in the autumn of 2022, when discussions began in Lithuania on how to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth,” Department of Cultural Heritage Director Vidmantas Bezaras said.
Bezaras said a delegation from the department, together with representatives of Polish culture and heritage institutions, the Lithuanian Embassy in Poland and Marki municipal authorities, visited the building where Čiurlionis died to explore possibilities for restoration and the installation of memorial elements.
However, the building is now owned by a convent. The owners refused to cooperate, Bezaras said.
“They categorically declined any discussions about restoring the building or installing commemorative signs nearby,” he said. “The only thing there is a plaque on a peeling wall marking Čiurlionis’ death.”
After the talks failed, an alternative proposal was made to erect memorial markers near the entrance to the monastery, Bezaras said.
He added that bureaucratic procedures delayed the project until the end of 2025, with progress achieved only after the issue was raised during a meeting of the Lithuanian and Polish presidents in Vilnius and later discussed by Polish institutions and representatives of the Lithuanian Embassy at the Polish presidential residence in Warsaw.
Lithuanian heritage specialists, along with representatives of the Presidential Office and the government, visited Marki several times, Bezaras said. Initial plans to restore the severely neglected but authentic building where Čiurlionis died were abandoned after the nuns opposed the idea, citing plans to build a new shelter for abused girls and saying visitors were not welcome on the territory.
“Unable to commemorate the artist on the wall of the building itself, we looked for other ways to do so,” Bezaras said. “During a conversation with my colleague Alfredas Jomantas, the idea emerged to commemorate Čiurlionis with wayside crosses like those he painted in 1909.”
Bezaras said Čiurlionis is already widely remembered in Marki, where a street bears his name, a small museum operates and cultural events dedicated to his legacy are held.
The Department of Cultural Heritage plans to officially present the memorial in April to mark the 115th anniversary of Čiurlionis’ death. Lithuania’s parliament has declared 2025 the Year of Čiurlionis.
Born in Senoji Varėna on September 22, 1875, Čiurlionis died on April 10, 1911, near Warsaw and is buried at Rasos Cemetery in Vilnius. He is widely regarded as Lithuania’s most prominent artist, leaving behind a legacy of paintings and graphic works, as well as symphonic, choral, piano, chamber and organ compositions.
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