Skansen budownictwa drewnianego w Rumszyszkach jako źródło do poznania życia codziennego wsi od końca XVIII do początku XX w
ENThe open-air museum of wooden architecture in Rumšiškės is located about 18 km from Kaunas, on the shore of the Kaunas Reservoir. The idea to create it was born in 1966 with the foundation of the Lithuanian Museum of Folk Architecture, but the facility was made available to visit in 1977. Throughout this period, the authors were able to gather 180 wooden buildings and about 80 thousand movable exhibits. There are mansions and manor houses of richer and poorer landed gentry, peasant collages, and farm buildings for various purposes. There arc also a lot of elements of the so-called landscape architecture, such as roadside shrines. All the houses were grouped into separate farms and villages and equipped with furniture, textiles, kitchen utensils, tools, etc. An additional attraction, available in the summer, are folk craftsmen who weave, carve in wood and sell crafts and food products. The entire museum is divided into four ethnographic regions of Lithuania, i.e. Aukštaitija. Samogitia (Lit. Žemaitija), Suwałki Region (Lit. Suvalkija), and Dainava (Lit. Dzūkija) and was planned in such a way as make each of these parts represent the natural topography of each of the regions in that times. The area of the open-air museum covers 175 hectares and to visit it. even by just looking at the interiors of the houses, lakes almost a whole day, assuming a walking tour of the museum. However, it is worth to spend that time at the museum as it presents a huge part of the Polish-Lithuanian heritage and is also a great lesson about everyday life in the country since the late 18th to the early 20th century. It is a pity, though, that Rumšiškės are so rarely recommended in guide books as one of the tourist attractions in Lithuania.
