Preserving Lithuanian baroque church

With the support of the Norway Grants, a wooden baroque church in the village of Degučiai, in the Šilute district in Lithuania, will be reconstructed.

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The Degučiai St. Vincent Ferrero Parish church was built in 1760, and is today one of the few triangle-shaped wooden baroque sanctorums left in Europe. The church attracts a lot of tourists to the village, which is on the Lithuanian seacoast, and it is believed that the reconstructed church will draw an increased number of both Lithuanian and foreign visitors to the area. This will benefit the local population, as increased tourism will provide them with more opportunities for securing an income.

The reconstruction of the church is one of 23 different Lithuanian cultural heritage projects receiving €11.2 million in support from the EEA and Norway Grants. The funds will, among other things, be spent on restoring church buildings and the area surrounding them, equipping the churches with plumbing and sewage systems, and reconstructing electrical transmission lines. These projects have not been completed earlier due to the lack of financial resources.