Eigirdžiai Church of the Providence of God

The Church of the Divine Providence of Eigirdžiai was built in 1795, thanks to the pastor Antanas Grabauskas. The church has features typical of folk architecture and Baroque. The Latin cross-shaped church has two symmetrically placed chapels and side sacristies under the roof slope. The foundation is plastered, the walls are boarded vertically with narrow planks covering the joints of the boards. The vertical facades are accentuated by decorative elements between windows. The sheet steel roof above main church volume is two-sided, above the three-wall apse it is three-sided, and above the lower transept and chapels it is semi-gambrel. The roof ridges are decorated with bulbous pedestals with ornamented crosses. The pediment of the main facade is crowned by a low, four-wall turret with a massive Baroque silhouette helm. The monumental main facade is separated from the trapezoidal pediment by a small roof covered with sheet steel. The pediment is boarded in decorative herringbone pattern, with a small edged skylight in the center. The windows of the very church are much more ornate. Paired rectangular and semi-circular arched windows include decorative partitions. The two-leaf door is wide, boarded in diamond patterns and includes metal fittings made by a blacksmith. There are three small rectangular arched windows above the door. The church interior features a nave and an ante-nave separated by posts with carved pillars decorated with passe-partouts. A Baroque organ is above it. An inscription preserved in the organ cartouche indicates that it was made in 1863, by the master M. Gawryllowicz, as it is assumed. The organ shape represents the typical composition of the Vilnius organ-making school of the late Baroque5. The church is rich in polychrome ceiling paintings, its wall cornices are also painted. Like the organ, the five altars are of Baroque style.

The churchyard has a cemetery and an old two-section belfry of a square layout. The lower, slantingly wider part includes an opening for the belfry door with a small roof. The formerly open arcade at the top of the building is now boarded up. The vertically boarded belfry is topped with a pyramidal sheet steel roof with a cross. The churchyard is surrounded by a low stonework fence with a gate of rectangular masonry posts.

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