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Vinksnupiai Manor

History of Vinksnupiai Manor

Vinksnupiai Manor as a separate farming unit is known since 17th Century . Its name was first mentioned in 1649.

In 1661 Vinksnupiai was given to Tartar Dovydas Baranovkis for his achievements in wars. The inventory of the village, was listed down by A. Tataris, and is archived at Vilnius University Library, Manuscript Department. It desribes the boundary of Vinksnupiai village, given to J.W.P rotmister (military rank of a commissioned cavalry officer in the armies) Dovydas Baranovkis. The village was made of 13 volok (volok is a late medieval unit of land measurement in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 1 volok equals 21.38 hectars. Volok was also a unit that determined taxation and other duties to the state), all tenants and what they owned  was recorded.

By 1703 Vinksnupiai establishment was fully built and consisted of houses, farm buildings  and a brewery. The Manor, as with other manors at the time, wasdivided into representational and farming parts. Representational part consisted of the Manor, cellars, barn, administrative unit, cleaning area (for the sanitary and hygiene purposes), and the farming part was formed of farm buildings, barns, and stables.

In 1704 an entry was made in the books of the Highest rank tribunal that the village of Vinksnupiai was  mortgaged out due to debts owed. At that time the Manor was owned by Jokubas Baranovkis, who inherited the Manor and the village from his father Dovydas Baranovkis. The document listed the wealth of the family, including Vinksnupiai village which consisted of 13 volok of land and its tenants,  their wives, children, labourers, it also detailed their employment.  As well as he Manor itself with all farm buildings, barns, storage units, stables, and the brewery‘.

In 1775 a list was made of tartars who owned land/ property in the area.  Stanislovas Augustas (last ruler of both Republics, King of Poland and Great Night of Lithuania) stated that tartars in Alytus area have their wealth. Some tartars inherited that from their ancestors who were given property and land as recognition of their achievements in the wars during the reign of King Jonas Kazimieras, others bought it or inherited it in other ways. The Manors in Alytus area that belonged to tartars were: Skersabaliai, Parausiai, Dęmbowyrog, Vilkabaliai, Vinkšnupiai, Patilčiai, Pilakalniai and Borovžčyzna.

In 1782 Alytus economical area map, which is kept in archives in Warshaw, shows Vinksnupiai. Explication states, that yellow marked Manors with land belonged to 7 tartars which covered Vinksnupiai, Vilkabaliai, Piliakalniai, Patilčiai. Vinksnupiai also had buildings marked on this map.

In 1793 Trakai area map shows Vinksnupiai on Trakai and Kaunas boundary.

In 1808 Vinksnupiai was marked on the Warshaw Dutchy plan as a village ‚both sides of the road‘. Also marked on the same map is the House of Prayers.

Vinksnupiai was also marked on a special map collated between 1806 and 1836 by Daniel Reymann (prussian cartographer). Vinksnupiai was marked by a special sign with a flag which shows that the Manor existed as a separate ruling unit and was not folwark (The English equivalent would be “grange”, the historical meaning of which is “an outlying farm with tithe (one tenth of annual produce or earnings) barns belonging to a lord)

In mid XIX century Suvalkai governorate map marked out the nationalities of the residents by different colours. Vinksnupiai was marked in pink which meant that tartars lived there.

In 1861 in Warshaw the architectural plans were made to build a brick mosque next to the Vinksnupiai cemetery, but the project was not completed – the wooden mosque was built but was demolished during 2nd World War. The map for the project did show the Manor including the farm buildings surrounding it.

Today there is an old tartar cemetery next to the Manor House.  Further proof that the area was inhabited by tartars a long time ago.

In XIX century Vinksnupiai did not belong to either Bartininkai, nor Valaviciai nor Karakreslis, but plans marked it as a separate economical unit.

In 1856 Bartininkai economical unit shows Vinksnupiai village and the manor – but only the names.

In 1863 resistance member was Samuelis Baranauskas. Soon Baranauskas lost the power in the area and during the rebellion Vinksnupiai was given to polishman Tom Volskis.

In the directory ‚Slownik geografizcny‘ dated 1882 it is described that Vinksnupiai is a village and a polwark in Vilkaviskis adminstrative unit (which had its own ruling power), Bartninkai county and parish. Here it was the only wooden mosque in Poland Kingdom (called ubogi) which was in a quite poor condition. In 1858 in the governorate of Augustavas there were 155 tartars in total of whom 76 men and 79 women. In 1866 the number rose to 171. In 1884 there were already two brick buildings (the barn still stands today) and 13 wooden buildings.

The current red brick Manor  was recorded in 1923 as a new build (according to architectural expression it could be at the begining of the XX century in 1914). According to the register center data the Manor was built in 1904. At the same time there was a record about the orchard which was over 3.5 hectare‘s with 320  plants, and a huge park where 800 trees with tree trunks  over 25cm were recorded.

Vinksnupiai Manor in between two World Wars

In 1923 during the land reformation period the land of the Manor was started to be divided. The owner of the Manor Stase Volskaite inherited the Manor from her dad Tomas Boleslov Mecislov Volskis who died in 1920. 165.2275 ha of land was taken by the government. Courts were going on between the wars and Stanislava Volskiene (mum of Stase Volskaite) in 1928 managed to get 70 ha of her Vinsknupiai Manor land back. As  advised by her brother General Leutenant Bronislav Skomskis.

In 1925 the land of Vinksnupiai Manor was divided into parcels of land and this was marked on the map, but there was no detailed plan for the Manor itself.

Stase Volskyte got married to Eduardas Havrilkevicius (Hawrylkiewicz) and in 1938 had their first born son Tomasas Havrilkevicius (Tomasz Hawrylkiewicz). In 1941 the family was taken to Siberia, area of Krestowaja. When Tomasas Havrilkevicius was 19 years old, he returned from Siberia to Poland, and died on 2016, and is buried in Liublin, Poland.

In 1939 the future general and the 1st president for Poland Republic Voicechas Jaruzelskis (Wojciech Jaruzelski) was hiding at the Manor with his family.  

In 1941 the Manor building was nationalized and divided into 9 flats and  up until 2012 the flats were occupied.

Architecture of the Vinksnupiai Manor

The red brick Manor features characteristics of Neo-Gothic and Neoclassicism styles. You can’t help but notice the ancient luxuriousness of its arched portico and the balcony. The Manor is rectangular in shape and, of red brick design, it is a single-floor building, has an attic and arched portico, on the top of which a balcony was formerly built. The roof of the Manor is dual-pitched and slate-covered. The central part of the building is emphasized by protruding portico, a roofed structure, supported by massive pilasters and pointed arches. There is a triangular fronton surmounting the entrance door to the attic balcony. The openings of windows and doors are aligned symmetrically (some of them are either expanded or plastered). The skylights in the attic are semicircular.

The beauty of tiles in floral design of some of the remaining fireplaces catches everyone’s eyes. The barn is rectangular, it is a single-floor building with a shelter, built with red bricks andplastered. The roof is dual-pitched, covered in slate, under which you can still find some of the remaining wood shingle covering. The building décor includes rustic and sandrick elements. In the eastern part of the building there is a calcium silicate brick annex built in the Soviet times (not coinciding with the overall height of the building).

Manor House today

On the 14th November 2008 The Manor House was acknowledged to be in an emergency condition, but people still lived there until around 2012.

On the 16th December 2008, the Manor was registered as a Heritage of Cultural Value, and since then was under Vilkaviskis District Municipality control. In the western side of the area, a row of remaining trees marked the former boundary of the territory.

Since 7 October 2009 Vinksnupiai Manor was included in the list of objects for privatization (The resolution was published: Zin., 1998, No. 21-537), but did not find its owner for a long time.

On 27 February 2023, the public institution “Klasikos projektai” purchased the Manor.

On 8 March 2023 “Vinksnupiai Manor Fundraising” for the restoration of the building was established. On 19 April 2023 VšĮ „Klasikos projektai“ purchased the Barn which is next to the Manor.

Vinksnupiai Manor in photos

Old maps

Vinksnupiai in publications

About Vinkšnupiai from page 255 Information found on https://punskas.pl/