THE HISTORY OF THE JURBARKAS MANOR FROM 1795 TO WORLD WAR I

Until 1795, the Jurbarkas Manor belonged to Stanisław August Poniatowski, ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and was managed by Ignacy Potocki, then Grand Marshal of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It is likely that the location of the manor buildings remained unchanged from the 15th–16th centuries, but they were destroyed in a fire that broke out in 1775.

On October 10, 1795, Empress Catherine II of Russia ceded the Jurbarkas district to Platon Zubov in exchange for the city of Šiauliai, which he likely received for his services in brutally suppressing the 1794 uprising (although the final, third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had not yet formally taken effect). From the very beginning of the occupation, the tsarist authorities sought to erase the symbols of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania’s statehood—they confiscated lands and handed them over to high-ranking officials of the Russian Empire.

The Jurbarkas estate was finally granted to Zubov on July 7, 1804, by order of Tsar Alexander I. Along with the Jurbarkas estate, he also received the town of Jurbarkas. The new manor house, like the old one, was also built between the Imsrė and Mituva rivers, though in a slightly different location. This one was designed according to the principles of classical architecture (architect Pončinis). After Platon Zubov’s death in 1822, his relatives managed the estate until 1841. A 1842 description of the estate mentions the following buildings: the manor house, a wooden wing next to it, a two-story brick warehouse (possibly later converted into a wing), a cross-shaped vodka warehouse, a brick stable, a shed for postal carriages, several barns, a cowshed, an old brick house near the Mituva River, a brick post office building, and a smithy.

In 1841, the manor came under the jurisdiction of the Russian Empire. On March 16, 1845, Tsar Nicholas I gifted the 8 „keys“ of the Jurbarkas estate (at that time one of the administrative divisions of land) to the Chairman of the State Council, Adjutant General Ilarion Vasilchikov, under the rights of a majorat. The „key“ to the town of Jurbarkas remained in state hands, but at Vasilchikov’s request, by a Senate decision on February 26, 1846, the town of Jurbarkas was transferred to his ownership.

In 1851, the Jurbarkas estate was divided among Ilarion’s sons: the Tauragė portion went to Aleksandr, the Jurbarkas portion to Ilarion, and in 1870, to Ilarion’s son Sergei. The Vasilchikovs ruled the town of Jurbarkas and the surrounding lands for seven decades. The Vasilchikov family loved to spend their summers at this manor estate. In 1865, a Neo-Byzantine-style Orthodox church was built on the site of a brick cross-shaped warehouse, marking the establishment of a new Orthodox religious tradition in Jurbarkas.

At the end of the 19th century, a hospital, a children’s shelter, and a poorhouse supported by Vasilchikov operated near the manor. In 1894, a fire brigade was established with funds from the manor and equipped with the necessary gear; a barn for a horse-drawn carriage was also built. A wooden headquarters for the dragoon regiment was erected at the gate. When World War I broke out, Prince Ilarion Vasilchikov, a general, was appointed commander of a cavalry regiment and left for the front. In 1915, during the war, the Imperial German Army burned down the manor house.

After World War I, the land and manor estate owned by the Vasilchikovs became state property. In 1918, the “Saulė” Pro-Gymnasium was established in the manor buildings—the manor and its lands once again began to serve Lithuania. In 1920, it was returned to its owners, but was expropriated again at the end of that same year. The burned-out manor house stood abandoned for another good decade before the townspeople finally tore it down.

Photo courtesy of the National Museum of Lithuania