St. Lawrence Church on the hill of Kalnalis town was built in 1777 by the Oginskis landlords. It was in Kalnalis that at the very beginning of the 19th century (1801), the famous Samogitia Bishop Motiejus Valancius, a native of nearby Nasrėnai, was baptized. Unfortunately, in 1882, the church burned down. However, thanks to the active pastor S. Jucevičius and the parishioners, a new, single nave church was built in 1883. It was built on a low brickwork foundation and had two wide lateral churches crossing the nave, and a three-wall apse.
Due to this configuration the layout shape resembles a Greek cross. A low, quadrilateral turret with a pyramidal roof topped with a bulbous cross pedestal covers the place where the high gable roof crosses with the slightly lower chapels. The edges of the pedestal pediments are topped by the same type of openwork crosses. The church is boarded vertically, the board joints are covered with narrow planks, and only the roof panels are boarded horizontally with profiled planks and lateral cornices adorned with a geometric pattern. The pediment panels are decorated with skylights. The main facade is very reserved with an open two-column porch ending with a small pediment. The windows of the church are rectangular in shape and ending in a segmental arch with notches. The church interior is decorated with neo-Baroque altars, and wall and ceiling painting decor.
At the front of the churchyard, a unique three-section belfry is attached to the front of a fence made of field boulders. It was built at the same time as the church. The lower pyramidal part is short and topped with a square-shaped section with a small roof. The belfry ends with an open upper section with a pyramidal roof with a bulbous pedestal, similar to the church one, and an openwork cross.
Church and Belfry of Kalnalis - Klausgalvai 97310, Lietuva
