Maironis homeland is Pasandravis manor house. The poet spent several years of his childhood in that location. His first impression of nature and world cognition formed there. In about 1860, the Astrauskai, the real inheritors and owners of Pasandravis manor, assigned the manor house to a farmer Aleksandras Mačiulis, the poet’s father, to repay their debts. Here, on 2nd September 1862, Aleksandras and Ona Mačiuliai became parents to their son Jonas, future poet Maironis. The Mačiuliai lived in Pasandravis till 1865. When Pasandravis manor inheritor P. Astrauskas returned from his studies, the Mačiuliai came back to Bernotai again.
Pasandravis manor land was framed by the meander of Sandrava stream on one side, and a grove and a natural tree-covered park on the other. The yard was decorated with a round flowerbed that was a mandatory element of every manor house these days. The house plan of Pasandravis manor was simply-structured, lengthy (sufficient for several apartments) and with a porch in the centre.
The house plan of Pasandravis manor was simply-structured, lengthy (sufficient for several apartments) and with a porch in the centre. It is believed that the house could have had 5 or 6 living rooms. The house was pillared with four columns and decorated with Classicist style window cornices. The manor house was built in about 1835. Yet, in one hundred years, having different owners, poorly-maintained, the manor house fell down; only the substructure of the poet’s home house remained. In 2019, an installation art exhibit, simulating the vision of lost manor house, was built on the substructure. Based on the archival iconographic documents, a precise outline of Maironis manor house was uniquely reproduced.
In the manor homestead, a sweep well with an impressively big stone curb and XIX century stone harness-room recall the times of the poet. With the help of video projection, thoughtful Maironis is reborn, and if one looks into the well, one can hear the poet’s stanzas.
