Medeinė

In the courtyard of Stiklių Street, under an old fir, you can find a bronze statue of Medeinė made by Marius Grušas in 1988. Why is it so special? Our ancestors had a very strong relationship with nature –Lithuanians were the last pagan nation in Europe. It is known that the King of Lithuania Mindaugas sacrificed the first prey of his hunt to Žvėrūna-Medeina. The sculpture depicts the deity sitting on a bear as the mistress of all wild animals and is revealed as a courageous and resolute ruler of forests. Besides, foreigners often thought that Lithuanians were hairy like bears.

The statue was placed near the Lithuanian Association of Hunters and Fishermen, but Medeina was not the patron of hunters; on the contrary, our ancestors considered that she hindered hunters from killing animals. When looking at the statue, try to find its secret element – the bear has a ring on one of its fingers. You can find a copy of this work of art at in the sculpture park in Changchun, China (Changchun World Sculpture Park).