Tyrimai rekonstruojamose Birutės ir Mindaugo gatvėse

LT2009 m. buvo pradėti archeologiniai žvalgomieji tyrimai Trakų senamiesčio (A1783, 27125) teritorijoje, vykstant Birutės ir Mindaugo gatvių rekonstrukcijos darbams [p. 374].

ENIn 2009, a field evaluation and survey connected with the reconstruction of Mindaugo and Birutės Streets were conducted along the whole of Mindaugo Street (322 m) and a 1 005 m section of Birutės Street as far as Maironio Street. During the evaluation, 3 trenches (a total of 6 m²) and 2 areas (16 m² each) were excavated and the sections at the street’s edge were recorded. It was also determined that Mindaugo Street was created during the second half of the 20th century at the site of a farm track belonging to the former Bernardine commercial manor. The original mid–14th–20th century environment of Birutės Street, one of Trakai’s two oldest streets, has been mostly destroyed but the outlines of 9 grave pits with burials were discovered along the sides of the road in the 1 023–1 032 m and 1 040–1 047 m segments as measured from the beginning of the street. This allowed the S and SE boundaries of the Bernardine or Little Rasos cemetery, which dates to the 18th – mid–19th century, to be determined. It was also discovered that the present route of Birutės Street in the 424–1 023 m segment is not the original route. In the part of the street near the former entrance to the Bernardine building complex, arable land from the priory garden (dating to the 16th – early 19th century) was found under fill layers; at the 839 m mark, the remains of the fence around the Bernardine priory complex, separating it from the manor farm and the town as a whole, was discovered.A fragment of another fence belonging to the 16th–17th century Orthodox Church of the Resurrection was found at the 744.5–745 m mark on Birutės Street. Graves were found in and alongside the street. During the evaluation it was determined that the 424–528 m segment of Birutės Street is part of the former so-called Ponežeris Marsh. This higher–relief marsh existed until the second half of the 20th century, when it was drained and filled in. Thus, it can be asserted that another road route, most likely following the former gravel ridge close to lake Bernardine (Luka), exists in the section of Birutės Street between the hill in the Bernardine building complex (1 023 m) and the N edge of Ponežeris marsh (424 m).