The cherry orchard that survived the 1655 fire

The owner of the old Kartenos manor had a great fondness for cherries and planted a large cherry orchard near his halls. During a 1655-1656 attack, the manor was burned to the ground, but the orchard remained. Every spring, the white blossoms serve as a reminder of the halls that once stood there.

This is a complex archaeological site with a history dating back to the first millennium. The site features a triangular plateau, 60 meters long and up to 50 meters wide, with a 50-meter long rampart and traces of a collapsed ditch on its northern edge. In the second half of the first millennium, the community abandoned this spot because it became difficult to overcome due to the flat slopes during the Viking period. They moved to live in the opposite, northern end of the height, where another hill fort was built in a more convenient place for defense.

In the 16th century, the first Kartenos manor house was built directly on the old ramparts. The stones from the inner rampart were used to pave the courtyard floors. A church, mentioned as early as 1611, stood on the north-western foot of Vyšnių kalnas, and a water mill stood nearby by the river. During the 1655-1656 attack, the manor was destroyed, and the new manor was built in a different location closer to the town of Kartenos.

Today, you can still see the inner rampart and the ancient residential area. There is a viewing platform by the riverbank and a parking area with an information board. The site includes a hill fort, a rampart, and a foot settlement, preserved as a state-protected cultural monument.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons