About the Church
The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary stands in the village of Gerdašiai, about nine kilometres southwest of Druskininkai, in southern Dzūkija.
The parish here was established on 5 December 1935 by Bishop Antanas Karosas, and its organiser was Father Pranciškus Šukys. The first services were held as early as 8 December of the same year, in a temporary chapel in the house of the farmer Vaclovas Dūdys. Soon afterwards, in 1936–1938, the present wooden church was built.
The modest wooden church resembles a traditional dwelling house: a gable roof, vertically boarded walls, a single small tower serving as a bell tower, and a wide window above the entrance. The Soviet era struck the parish hard — in 1946 Father Pranciškus Šukys was arrested and sentenced to ten years, and Gerdašiai was left for a long time without a resident priest.
The parish here was established on 5 December 1935 by Bishop Antanas Karosas, and its organiser was Father Pranciškus Šukys. The first services were held as early as 8 December of the same year, in a temporary chapel in the house of the farmer Vaclovas Dūdys. Soon afterwards, in 1936–1938, the present wooden church was built.
The modest wooden church resembles a traditional dwelling house: a gable roof, vertically boarded walls, a single small tower serving as a bell tower, and a wide window above the entrance. The Soviet era struck the parish hard — in 1946 Father Pranciškus Šukys was arrested and sentenced to ten years, and Gerdašiai was left for a long time without a resident priest.