Markučiai

In the distant past, the current territory of Markučiai belonged to Elena, wife of Grand Duke Alexander, as well as to the Kiškos and Chodkevičiai families and many other owners. Archaeologists have found fragments of the foundations of the old Kiškų-Chodkevičių Palace in the adjacent forest. However, the most prominent and still clearly visible trace was left by the Pushkin family. How did they come to be here? In 1867, the estate was bought by Alexei Melnikov, an engineer of the Russian Empire. The story goes that Alexey, who worked on the railway, liked Markučiai so much that he decided to buy it and build a wooden house, which he did. The hill offered magnificent views of Vilnius, and various ancillary buildings (which have not survived) sprang up at the foot of the hill, while summer houses for rent were built in a wider radius. In 1875, Melnikov’s daughter Varvara married, and her father gave her the Markučiai manor as a dowry. However, the first marriage lasted two years and the couple divorced. In 1884, Varvara married a second time, this time to Grigory, the son of the famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, thus establishing a direct link between the Pushkins and Vilnius. However, both spouses only moved to Markučiai permanently in 1899, before which it was only their summer holiday home. After Grigory died in 1905, Varvara managed the estate for a long time, until her death in 1935. The owners witnessed numerous changes of political powers and the First World War, which brought grave losses. In order to survive financially, V. Pushkina started selling off plots of land from 1920 onwards, but her debts continued to mount. Between 1930 and 1935 alone, as many as 166 plots were sold. It was on the land that was split off from the estate that today’s rural settlement of Markučiai grew. In her will, Varvara instructed the Vilnius Russian community to preserve the legacy of the poet A. Pushkin in Markučiai, which became the impetus for the establishment of a museum a few years later. In the 1940s, the museum was founded. The museum, which opened its doors in the 1940s, invites visitors to see the items that belonged to the poet and his family: a billiard table made in 1870, a home-made organ, optically deceptive 19th-century furniture, samovars, a safe, etc. On the walls hang a number of paintings by Pushkina herself. By the way, Pushkin never visited Vilnius, so the Pushkin connection to Vilnius is through his son Grigory. The valuable interior of this building in Markučiai is also a frequent destination for filmmakers, one example of which is the historical documentary drama about the fall of the Russian Empire, ‘The Last Czars’.

Markučiai Manor Park is not comparable to Vingio or Bernardinų Parks, but it is a favourite with Vilnius residents who appreciate peace and quiet. In 1896, the park covered an area of 15 hectares (now about 8 hectares), was surrounded by a fence decorated with crosses, had a croquet court on the lawn for this popular 19th century game, as well as a conservatory with palm trees, fig trees, oleander shrubs, roses, and cacti, and was made more colourful by the peacocks proudly strutting around. The forests adjacent to the ponds are full of stunning trees that seem to hark back to the ancient past of Lithuania. The forest massif belongs to the Pavilnių Regional Park, and you can head all the way to Naujoji Vilnia without touching tarmac.

In 1903, a chapel was built, where not only the owners of the manor, but also Orthodox Christians from the surrounding villages could pray. However, only Varvara was able to see the opening of the chapel – G. Pushkin died in 1905 at the age of 70, childless, and the construction was completed only in 1906. It is known that it was decorated with stained glass windows. Above the entrance, the words of the ‘Our Father’ prayer can be read. The niches in the upper part of the nave contained painted icons of saints on tin, 7 of which were found in the museum’s collections, the other two are missing. The original icons are now kept in the Museum of Ecclesiastical Heritage, and the façade of the chapel is decorated with copies. In 2019, the chapel was restored to its original colour during renovation work, which was found under seven layers of paint. The adjacent cemetery contains the graves of Grigory and Varvara Pushkin, the French governess Marie Pelichet, Pushkina’s mother, Varvara Lochtina-Melnikova, and, in an unmarked spot, Vladimir Nazimov, the estate’s housekeeper, who carried out his mistress’s predeceased will and became the first director of the Museum. Two stones near the cemetery are dedicated to Varvara’s beloved dogs, Ben and Zhuchik, which are buried there.

The building was once called the ‘Governor’s Villa’ and was the home of Dmitry Lyubimov, who served as Governor of Vilnius from 1906 to 1912, and his wife Lyudmila. The house had 2 floors, 18 rooms with two balconies, a conservatory, an orchard of 100 fruit trees and a horse stable. Over time, the villa was separated from the Markučiai estate, became an orphanage with a dormitory and a school, and later housed a hostel for craftsmen. The ornate exterior details have been destroyed over time, and the carefully carved columns of the porch no longer remain. Note that some of the former carvings and the staircase leading to the garden still remain on the exterior of the building today. It has now been converted into flats.

It is worth stopping by to take a look at the metal works of Rafalas Piesliakas, a sculptor of the younger generation who lives in Markučiai. Check out the metal piece with a clock – on one side the hand shows 7am, on the other side 4 o’clock in the afternoon. This symbolises the start and end time of the shift when you must clock in and out of in the workshop. There are several other sculptures around, such as a concrete, metal and glass piece representing the new architecture of the city centre. Piesliakas’ father, Ryšardas, also works with his son, which makes the initials ‘PR’ on the sculptures outside versatile – apt for both father and son.

Kuprioniškės and Vilnelė streets are separated by the mysterious Kaukysos brook. It is the left tributary of the Vilnia River, which flows out of the Ribiškės Hills and meanders about 10 km northwards through a deep valley. The short brook is crossed by the busy 101 Vilnius-Shumsk motorway and the Vilnius-Minsk railway, then flows through Markučiai and joins the Vilnia about 4 km from its mouth. The origin of its name is unknown, but the fact that it belongs to the family of hydronymic names with the root ‘kauk-‘ (e.g., Kauknorio lake; Kaukučio rivulet, river) suggests that it is related to the ‘kaukas’, a Lithuanian mythological creature considered to be the spirit of fertility, harvest, and wealth. There is only one place to cross the brook from Kuprioniškės to Vilnelė Street – a miniature ‘bridge’, sometimes made up of a few boards put together by the locals or sometimes an old door that is no longer needed.

The terrain is extremely difficult and many of the streets are not paved with any kind of hard surface. Just imagine the challenges of the ice-covered slopes of Markučiai in winter! However, there are exceptions – the section of Žibuoklių Street that descends below number 24. The stone pavement, known locally as ‘brukas’, stretches for just over 200 metres with a steep slope. The original section is in good condition, with a gutter in the middle to drain the water, which even bears some resemblance to the dividing lines of modern streets. The pavement now leads to a small and rather nondescript quarter, whereas it once rose towards one of the most picturesque hills in the area. Interestingly, some of the toponyms of Markučiai had Christian overtones – Bethlehem and Jerusalem were nearby. It is not for nothing that the current Žibuoklių Street was called Jerusalem Street until the Second World War, and the cobbled part of the street was called Jerusalem Lane.

Due to its extremely hilly terrain, Markučiai is distinguished by its variety of panoramic viewpoints. This hill is one of the highest and offers stunning views in all directions. With such a high altitude and a good view of the surrounding area, it is easy to understand why Markučiai was a popular holiday destination for the townspeople in the 19th century – after all, it is hardly possible to work the land on such steep slopes, and the scenery is very picturesque. One by one, a plethora of inns, taverns, and restaurants were built in this beautiful landscape; the number of such establishments in and around Markučiai is astonishing: the Kadinačio, Berlyno, Konstantinopolio, Betliejaus, Naujanerio, Jeruzalės, Kreivakalnio, Burlakopolio, ‘Žaliosios pievelės’, ‘Geležinės trobelės’, and ‘Bandinelio užeigos’ were all inns and taverns found in the area.

Looking at Markučiai on a map, many places look deceptive – it seems that you could move from one to another without blinking. In reality, however, this is often not possible – even though the destination is only 50 metres away, high and steep hills, fences, or other barriers may stand in the way. Thus, the winding of the streets in Markučiai are more akin to naturally flowing spring waters than to a man-made, orderly settlement. The menacingly large hill with steps and terraces near the house at Markučių g. 39 is a perfect example of this – it is more reminiscent of a European mountain village than the flat lands of Lithuania.

The Vilnius Spinning and Weaving Company ‘Audėjas’, which operated for a long time in the former picturesque suburb of Paplauja, was founded in 1946, but it experienced strong growth after the company’s expansion in 1956. It is one of the few industrial giants in Vilnius to survive the transition from a planned economy to the free market. The Soviet-era spinning and weaving factory employed around 2,500 people (there was also a branch in Grodno) and despite only employing only around 150 people today, UAB ‘Audėjas’ continues to operate successfully. In 2016, ‘Audėjas’ left Markučiai and moved to Kalvarijų Street, but several large production line workshops continue to serve industry – not the textile industry but film. Here, props create a spectacular environment. Those who have seen the TV series ‘Chernobyl’ will remember the corridor of Gorbachev’s reception room, with its red carpet and white columns; this was not filmed in Moscow but here in Markučiai, with the help of technology and ingenuity. In the near future, a major conversion of the area is planned and the site will change beyond recognition.

Sources mention that in 1817, a brewery was established here by Juozapas Eismuntas, the owner of Markučiai Manor at the time. The most significant changes took place at the end of the 19th century, when a huge brewery was built by Ovsejus Chaimas Epšteinas, who, from 1897 onwards, owned the ‘Šopeno’ joint-stock company and, in competition with Ilya Lipskis, became one of the two largest brewers in Vilnius. At the end of the 19th century, there were 12 brick and wooden buildings on this plot. In 1900, the brewery on Subačiaus Street was converted into a large malt house, but in 1918 the buildings were destroyed by fire. During the Soviet period, some of the buildings were used as warehouses, a few extensions constructed using calcium silicate bricks and a sawmill were built. In 2007, the site was planned for apartment blocks, but the project stalled due to the economic crisis, and the industrial heritage buildings sat abandoned for years. In 2017-2019, a new commercial and residential project was developed on the site. You can easily tell from the brickwork which bricks are from the brewery era and which are new. The interior spaces of the complex, with their narrow entrances and small windows, are reminiscent of medieval European fortress cities.