Žemaičių christianizacijos plentas: geografinės ir istoriografinės pastabos
ENThe article is analyses the following question: is there a system in the church geography of the christianization of the Samogitians and why the route formed in the 15th century which linked the churches coincided with the route taken in 1579 by the auditor of the Papal Nuncio Tarquinius Peculus during his visitation to Samogitia? Hitherto it has been thought that the documents of the visitation are not entirely complete. This encouraged scholars to look for other churches visited by Tarquinius Peculus, which were not mentioned in the documents. The analysis of the visitation acts, however, shows that the visitation was undertaken systematically from both chronological and geographical points of view and that the churches founded by the bishops and the grand dukes were visited. Hence, Tarquinius Peculus marched along the «highway of christianisation», which was layed by Grand Duke Vytautas and stretched across Samogitia. Such geographical remarks can essentially contribute to solving the historiographical problem, namely, how to reconcile conceptions about the existence of parallels between "the focuses of Christianity" and "the enclaves of paganism" in the 16th century. The answer is very simple: "the focuses of Christianity" were living Christian parishes on the highways of Christianity, and the enclaves of paganism were in the villages beyond them. These geographical insights can be regarded not only as a metaphor of the last process of Christianization which started in Europe 600 years ago but at the same time they can turn the discerned "highway of Christianization" into a real object of heritage. This is the road with several surviving authentic sections, which runs through the sites of Samogitia where Christian Europe took its final shape.
