Klaipeda District Tourism Information Center

The Church of St. Matthew the Apostle Evangelist, Veiviržėnai

Church

The first church in Veiviržėnai, with its façade facing east, was built in 1639 in the territory of the St. George Cemetery. The foundation of the church, as mentioned in historical sources, was funded by Władysław IV Vasa, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and was built by Aleksandras Masalskis, Elder of Rietavas (whose wife Apolonija Jasienskytė), allocating 1 volok (area measurement unit equalling 21.38 ha) of land to the church. Initially, Veiviržėnai church did not have its own priest and services were held by priests from Rietavas.

According to historical sources, the construction of the second church dates back to 1767. Pranciškus Ksaveras Oginskis, the manager of the Rietavas Eldership and Estate, allocated the plot for the construction of the church in the old cemetery. The church was built from the funds of parishioners' donations, and part of the funds were provided by the Diocese.

On 11 June 1775, the new church was consecrated by Mykolas Chominskis, the Suffragan Bishop of Samogitia, giving it the title of ‘St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist’. The new church was much more spacious, reaching 16 sieksniai (a measure of length equal to 2.13 metres) in length and 9.3 metres in width.

On 23 July 1795, Steponas Giedraitis, Bishop of Samogitia, established the parish of Veiviržėnai and reformed the administration of the lands allocated to the church. This was a historically important fact for the Veiviržėnai church: being under the auspices of the Rietavas parish for about 150 years, it has now become an independent parish church.

During the service of Justinas Fedoravičius, the parish priest, a belfry – a stone masonry, one-piece, square, two-bay structure – was built between 1859 and 1866 on the western edge of the churchyard approximately 18 metres from the church.

In 1887, when Boleslovas Tamulevičius, the parish priest, took over the Veiviržėnai parish, a new stone masonry fence for the churchyard was installed. The central gate in front of the main door of the church is made of burnt clay bricks with three cement crosses on top of it. There are three gates on different sides of the churchyard: one to the east, the other to the back of the church and the third to the west of the church.

Since 12 August 2016, the parish priest of the Veiviržėnai parish has been Vidmantas Gricius.

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