Birštonas Observation Tower

The Birštonas Observation Tower is the tallest tower in Lithuania. Its site was chosen as early as 1997, when the Government of the Republic of Lithuania approved the planning scheme for the Nemunas Loops Regional Park – the main document setting out measures to protect, manage and properly use this unique area. The tower stands on the Škėvonys ridge, in a sparsely built-up area 92 m above sea level. The Nemunas flows 240 metres away; to the south-east there is open field, with forest nearby, and you can see the panorama of Birštonas and the Nemunas valley, while 900 metres away stretch the farmsteads of Birštonas village (now part of the town of Birštonas). The tower's viewing platform is at a height of 45 m, and the tower as a whole is 55 m tall. On the way up there are six resting points, as climbing that high without a break is quite hard. In front of the tower there is a rest area and an information board about the landscape of the Nemunas Loops Regional Park. The tower's metal structure, clad in larch panels with small triangular windows, evokes a traditional roofed wayside shrine (koplytstulpis) and at the same time symbolises constellations in the vault of the sky. Square, with straight walls and an openwork roof, the tower continues the tradition of Lithuanian defensive architecture, recalls the towers of old wooden castles and relates to the later architecture of church bell towers. It can also be compared to a roofed wayside shrine and to the image of the World Tree. The tower's symbolism is enlivened by its openings – small windows for light and for views of the landscape – which resemble patterns used in woodcarving. The Birštonas Observation Tower was designed by the architects Donatas Malinauskas and Vytautas Putna.