You’ve probably seen the ‘Fabijoniškės-Markučiai’ sign on the number 10 bus many times, but few people have any idea what the area where this bus drops off its last passengers looks like.
The origin of the place name is not entirely clear: it is known that for some time the area was called Sakalaičiai (Sokoloycie in Polish), Svistapolė (Swistopol), and together with these (and sometimes separately) the name of Markučiai. Nowadays, we tend to refer to this small settlement simply as Markučiai. According to the linguist Jonas Jurkštas, the place name may have originated from several peasants who lived here and whose names or surnames must have sounded similar, for example, Markus, Morkus, Morkūnas, Markutis. Markučiai is worth a trip for those who want to forget the hustle and bustle of the capital city and enjoy what a slower more rural life has to offer, while still being close to the Old Town. Those who love hills will also enjoy the area’s rugged terrain, which is more reminiscent of the Alps than the flatlands of Lithuania. The little wooden houses in the streets that have formed in the bottoms of the ravines are barely touched by civilisation, and if you turn aside a few hundred metres, you’ll find fantastic vantage points that overlook both the walls of the Old Town and the lush green crown of Vilnius. Tech enthusiasts can watch trains rumble past Markučiai and planes soar overhead. Along the route, you’ll also see artworks in unexpected spaces and learn about the legacy of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin and his relatives in our country.
What you’ll learn/see on the route:
- Which factory workshops were scenes from ‘Chernobyl’ filmed in?
- What is the bridge over the Kaukysa River made of?
- What kind of institutions was Markučiai once famous for?
