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Kavarskas
It is believed that earlier the settlement was called the Estate of Pienionys which was owned by Stanislovas Kovarskis in the 15th century. Since then it was called Kovarskas, later changed into Kavarskas. It is called a town in a document dated 1538. In the centre of Kavarskas there is St John the Baptist‘s Church, built in the middle of the 19th century, renewed in 1928. Close to the church there is the famous St John the Baptist‘s Spring marked by a roof pole with a shrine of considerable artistic value by V.Kavaliauskas. Just outside the town on the road to Ukmergė there is a 20-metre-tall cross, the tallest one in Lithuania erected in 1936.
A fully automated Kavarskas Hydropower station started operating in 2002. After building a dam on the river, a fish way was made according to recommendations by French ichthiologists. It is the only one of this type in Lithuania.
Raguvėlė
A small town and an estate on the Juosta River, a tributary of the River Nevėžis. The Estate of the Komaras which was built from the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th centuries is an architectural monument of the Classical style. It is comprised of 19 buildings situated on the Juosta River. Elements of the 19th century Romanticism, neo-Gothic and local ethnographic styles can be found in the buildings of the estate. A two-storeyed mansion in Classical style was built at the end of the 18th century. The facade, a four columned portico, has the coat of arms of the Komaras family. A wooden church of St Stephen the Deacon was built in 1796. The farmyard of the estate with barns and a cottage for farm labourers are of particular interest. It is one out of the few estates in Lithuania with a well preserved complex of buildings. Across the bridge on the road to Raguva there is a restored chapel-mausoleum of the Komaras family.
Rubikiai
It is a village on the shore of Lake Rubikiai 12 km from Anykščiai. Lake Rubikiai is one of the most beautiful lakes in eastern Lithuania, a favourite recreation place. The area of the lake is about 968 hectares. There are 16 islands in the lake. The average depth is about 5,7 m, the deepest place is 16 m.
The writer Antanas Vienuolis wrote a story based on local legends about a settlement called Šventavartė (Sacred Gate) which was flooded by waters of the lake as its inhabitants were dishonest...
Svėdasai
This small town is situated between two lakes: Lake Svėdasas (Beragis) and Lake Alaušas. The bigger and the more beautiful one is Lake Svėdasas which lies in the north of the town. The lake is not big, its area is just 1.3 sq km, but deep, the deepest place is 25 m. The Svėdasa River has its source from it.
The Estate of Svėdasai known since the 16th century belonged to the Radvila family. The Radvila Chapel has survived to this day.
The great Lithuanian writer Juozas Tumas–Vaižgantas (1896 – 1933) was born near Svėdasai in Malaišiai Village. Sponsored by local people a bust of Vaižgantas (sculptor B.Bučas) was erected in 1933 on the site of the farmstead where the writer was born. In the novel “Pragiedruliai” J.Tumas-Vaižgantas mentions a legend about the deep Lake Svėdasas, which goes that at the bottom of the lake there is a bell which chimes at midnight to remind of our forefathers’ great deeds.
Kunigiškiai Village is close to Svėdasai. The future writer went to primary school there. The school building has been restored. Now it houses a museum which tells about Juozas Tumas–Vaižgantas and the local history.
Troškūnai
The town is on the Juosta Rivulet. It was first mentioned in the 16th century. In the 17th century it was called Vladislavovas because it belonged to Vladislovas Sakalauskas. In 1696 V.Sakalauskas invited Bernardine monks. Eventually the abbey became an important centre of education in eastern Lithuania: a school was founded which was granted the status of gymnasium (grammar school) in the 19th century. After the uprising of 1863 the abbey was closed by Russian authorities. Now the restored Bernardine Abbey complex has become the main landmark of the town. It houses a centre of the Lithuanian Kolping Society where camps and conferences are held.
In a public garden next to the church a monument to partisans of Algimantas Military District by J.Jagėla was erected in 1996. It is called Gate To Those Who Went To Defend Their Homeland.
Vidugiriai
A village near Troškūnai. It is the birhplace of poet Kazys Inčiūra (1906 – 1974). In the house where the poet was born there is a small museum exhibition looked after by the family of his niece Irena Inčiūraitė-Uzdrienė.
Niūronys
Local legends have it that these forests used to be dark, full of howling wolves and roaring bears, so the settlement was called Niūronys which means „a gloomy place“. There are five hand carved wooden roof poles with shrines dedicated to St John along the road from Anyščiai to Niūronys Village. They stand on four brooks called the Anykšta, Piestupys, Elmė, Varius and a nameless brooklet which runs through Niūronys. The village is the birthplace of Jonas Biliūnas (1879 – 1907), famous Lithuanian writer, a short story master. As a child the writer loved the River Šventoji, the Birch Hill which is just outside the cottage. It was his favourite place of repose whenever he visited his birthplace. The last time he came home in 1906 he was incurably ill.
Near the cottage there are original hand carved wood sculptures by folk artists A.Domarkienė, S.Kranauskas and L.Tarabilda which depict characters from short stories by Jonas Biliūnas. One of them portrays the writer.
There is The Horse Museum in Niūronys founded on the initiative of P.Vasinauskas, professor of Lithuanian Academy of Agriculture. The museum was opened on June 10, 1978.
Ažuožeriai Village is the birthplace of the writer Antanas Žukauskas-Vienuolis (1882 – 1957). On the site of the cottage where the writer was born there is a roof pole by folk artists J.Grabauskas and P. Raudys portraying characters from his short stories. Lake Ilgis is mentioned in the most famous short story by A. Žukauskas-Vienuolis.
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