The most influential noblemen in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were from Radvila family. They were the only ones in Lithuania who were titled as dukes of the Holy Roman Empire. Remains of Radvila palace and educational trail are situated at Dubingiai castle site. Restored Alanta manor with adjacent tower, ponds and landscape park stand on other lands that belonged to Radvila family from the old days.
In 1828 Alanta was bought by the nobleman Pac-Pomarnackis, whose family built the Alanta mansion from masonry and stones in the second half of the 19th century. Here the owners had accumulated a valuable art collection: paintings, furniture and oriental porcelain. In the 20th century, between the wars, the manor was bought by the Minister of National Defense of Lithuania, Balys Sližys. During the Soviet era, this was a collective farm office, a cinema and gymnasium, a school, and a library. During the time of the new freedom, the manor spaces were used for public education.
Currently, the permanent art gallery of V. Žukas with the author's paintings, drawings, collages, and ceramics operates on the first floor of the Alanta manor homestead. Three more halls are dedicated to mobile exhibitions - exhibitions of contemporary Lithuanian artists are held. In 2017 facsimile drawings by Rembrandt were exhibited here.
On the second floor of the manor there is a museum of Blessed T. Matulionis, who came from the Alanta region. The martyr bishop's letters from Soviet prisons, exiles, and other documents are on display. Among the most valuable relics of the T. Matulionis museum are the bishop’s glasses, a clock, a razor, and a rosary that he brought back the Solovki concentration camp, a small altar he carved in exile in Mordovia, cut out Christmas toys, and a bamboo stick, which the bishop used to lean on during the Soviet exile in Birštonas and Šeduva (1956-1962). Some of the museum's exhibits were received as gifts from the parishes of Varakļāni and Gaigavala in Latvia, where priest T. Matulionis served at the beginning of the 20th century. On the walls of the T. Matulionis Museum - 30 enlarged photos of the bishop's life.
After visiting the Asveja regional park, make sure to get to Dubingiai Castle Hill. Walking through the educational trail from the former island, now a peninsula, you will be able to admire the panorama of the longest, and one of the deepest and largest lakes in Lithuania.
Dubingiai castle – is an important 14th - 18th century Lithuanian culture, industry and defense center, it commemorates war with the Order of the Teutonic Knights, reformation - significant eras in our history. The castle is associated with the life and activities of prominent individuals of that age (Vytautas The Great, Mikalojus Radvila Rudas, Barbora Radvilaitė and others). Dubingiai are inseparable from the history of the rise and prosperity of the Radvilos family.
From 2012 Visitors of the castle hill are awaited by the ready for exposition fragments of the Radvila Palace, covered with a hood, along with the place of the former Evangelical Reformed Church with the Radvilos funeral pantheon. The castle hill has an educational trail with 6 observation stops near archaeological and natural sites. The length of the natural tract is about 1.5 km. It has wooden stairs, information stands, benches.
