The Raudondvaris Manor at Lake Raudonasis Dvaras: Reflections of the 400-Year-Long Historical Development

Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis

Abstract

One the earliest wooden manors in Lithuania, the Raudondvaris Manor reflects the development of the structure of a large landowner’s estate and the architecture of its buildings from the 17th to the early 21st century. The appearance of its central regular courtyard with buildings of both residential and auxiliary function is dated to the 17th century and is a rare example of spatial arrangement reflecting the tradition of central courtyard planning of the 400-year-old manor.

The architecture of the buildings on the estate illustrates a large landowner’s deeply traditional perception of the aesthetics of wooden architecture, whose forms changed from ornate baroque to rational classi- cism over the centuries. Written sources testify to the former extraordinary architectural expression of the baroque Raudondvaris Manor with a loggia on the end façade. The multi-functional treasury building standing next to the manor and possibly connected to it by an underground tunnel up until the early 21st century was distinguished by the multi-layered character of its architectural forms: from rational proportions in the 17th–18th century to a dynamic silhouette with an annex of a two-tier tower formed in the early 19th century and valuable on the national scale. The architecture of the other surviving auxiliary buildings in the central courtyard reflects the traditional forms of the wooden manor heritage of the first half of the 19th century (granaries) or the change of function and materials, traditionally retaining the proportions characteristic of the 18th century (stables).