Niūronys Horse Museum

The Horse Museum at Niūronys was founded in 1978 and is an open-air collection about the animal that ran Lithuanian farming until the middle of the twentieth century: carts, sledges, harness, ploughs and other implements, a smithy, stables with living horses, and reconstructed farm buildings in a village setting. Carriage and sledge rides are offered and there are workshops for children. The village is the birthplace of the writer Jonas Biliūnas, whose memorial house is nearby and whose grave is on a hill above the town at Liudiškiai. Each summer the museum hosts Bėk bėk, žirgeli, a horse festival with races, competitions and crafts, which is the busiest day of its year.

What you actually see

• Carts and harness - the working equipment of horse-drawn farming.
• Live horses and stables - animals kept at the museum.
• The smithy - the forge and its tools in the village setting.
• The summer horse festival - races and crafts on the museum's big day.

When to go

May to September, when the open-air sections work properly and rides run; the horse festival falls in early summer. Winter hours are short and much of the site is closed.

Honest expectations

The museum is modest and rural, with interpretation almost entirely in Lithuanian. Rides depend on staff and horses being available. Facilities are basic. It suits families more than solo visitors.

Nearby

Anykščiai lies south; Puntukas stone is beyond it.