Ežerų žvejybos muziejus

About the museum

The Ežerų žvejybos muziejus (Lake Fishing Museum) in Mindūnai village is the only museum of its kind in Lithuania; no other museum collects an ethnographic lake fishing collection. The oldest exhibits are 15th-century sinkers (luotai) pulled from lake bottoms, as well as fishing material collected by the National Museum back in the interwar period. The displays include the oldest handmade hooks, floats, rods, original devices made by fishermen, and large fishing gear made of hand-knotted nets: venteris, marozas, bradinys and čerpokas. So far 870 exhibits have been gathered.

Every year on the third Saturday of February the traditional Winter Fishing Festival takes place in the museum yard; it has been held since 1995. It demonstrates the old way of catching smelt (stintelės) and seliavos in winter by using the bobas on Lake Baltieji Lakajai – one of the most complex methods of fishing with nets, listed in the Lithuanian register of intangible cultural heritage.

The Antano Truskausko medžioklės ir gamtos muziejus (Antanas Truskauskas Hunting and Nature Museum) is set up in the same building. The trophy collection of one of Lithuania’s best-known hunters, Antanas Truskauskas, came to Mindūnai in 2012, when he donated it to the Molėtai District Municipality; it is displayed in the former main school building of Mindūnai. The museum opened to visitors in 2014: it has 400 exhibits, including 158 hunting trophies, awards, art objects and souvenirs, and the stuffed bears, lion, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, bison and other animals were prepared by the taxidermist Kęstutis Bybartas.

Highlights

• The only lake fishing museum in Lithuania
• 15th-century sinkers from lake bottoms
• 870 fishing exhibits
• Antanas Truskauskas hunting trophy collection
• Winter Fishing Festival on the third Saturday of February

Permanent exhibitions

• Ežerų žvejybos ekspozicija – 15th-century sinkers, hooks, floats, rods, hand-knotted fishing nets and other fishing tools.
• Antano Truskausko medžioklės ir gamtos muziejus – A collection of hunting trophies, awards and stuffed exotic animals, open to visitors since 2014.

Operated by

VšĮ Molėtų krašto muziejus

Admission & discounts

General ticket rates of the Molėtai Regional Museum: adults €5, pupils, students and pensioners €3, family ticket €10.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

Getting there & parking

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Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

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