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Apžadai graves

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  • 25_Apžadų kapeliai.jpg

Approximately three kilometers from the village of Kairiškiai (Akmenė district), on the edge of the Purviai Forest, lies the second old cemetery of Kairiškiai village (L1268), known as Apžadų kapeliai. Scientists refer to Apžadų kapeliai as the ancient burial grounds of Kairiškiai. A stone axe found here indicates that people have lived in this area for 1,500 years. Since ancient times, this place has been shrouded in various legends. It is said that there used to be a church on the site of the chapel, surrounded by a town. Money is said to have been found buried here. Others say that there used to be huge pine forests here. People started cutting them down. They cut and cut, leaving only the two tallest pines. The shepherds noticed during the night that the ground around the trees had been scraped away. The pines were fenced off. After the night, the fence had been scraped away. Then they realized that this was a sacred place. They began to worship there, erecting crosses and wooden sculptures, and later a chapel. An inscription on the gate says that this must have been around 1815. Another inscription says that the new gate was built in 1933 by the blacksmith Krūtinis from the village of Užventė and built by Jurevičius.