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Telšiai Deanery

Telšių Švč. Mergelės Marijos Ėmimo į dangų bažnyčia

Built 1867 Age 159 yr Coord. 55.9835, 22.2566
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About the Church

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Telšiai stands in the old town of Telšiai, to the east of the central crossroads. Its history is marked by dramatic turns.

The parish in Telšiai was established as early as 1536, during the rule of the Grand Duke Sigismund the Old, and the first church was built the same year. Of the earlier buildings, only a bell cast in 1619 has survived to this day. In 1814, the tsarist authorities closed and demolished the church, and in 1864–1867 a masonry Orthodox church of St Nicholas the Wonderworker rose on the site.

In independent Lithuania, in 1932, the Supreme Tribunal returned the church to Catholics, and the refurbished spaces were consecrated as a Catholic church on 30 October 1935. The present plastered masonry building combines elements of the Gothic Revival, neo-Baroque and neo-Byzantine styles; it is on a cruciform plan, single-towered, with three altars inside.

Gallery and Resources

Archive captions are shown in Lithuanian.