Elektrėnai Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Martyrs

The Elektrėnai Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Martyrs, hosts not only religious services but also evenings of penance and concerts of sacred music. The Elektrėnai parish was founded only in 1989. Until then, the town's believers went to pray in the neighbouring parishes of Vievis, Kietaviškės and Semeliškės. In the autumn of 1988 about 2,000 believers' signatures were collected in Elektrėnai on a petition to allow a parish to be founded and a church to be built. In the summer of 1989 Fr. Jonas Sabaliauskas was appointed the first parish priest of Elektrėnai. The first Holy Masses were celebrated in the hall of the Elektrėnai canteen; later, temporary prayer rooms were set up in the second-floor hall of the municipal services plant. Construction of the Elektrėnai church began in 1990. The design by architect H. K. Šilgalis was chosen (structural engineers: H. Karvelis, G. Chomičius, V. Zanevičius, A. Glagolevas). On 30 June 1990 the Bishop of Kaišiadorys, Juozapas Matulaitis, blessed the cornerstone of the future church. On 28 July 1996 the church was solemnly consecrated in the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio to Lithuania, Archbishop Justo Mullor García. Shortly after construction, in the autumn of 1997, a storm toppled two of the church's decorative pylons. They were rebuilt in 2004. The church is of modern architecture. Its exterior is encircled by a semicircular curved portal consisting of a rectangular arch with a cross and six vertical, doubled openwork crosses. The portal represents the seventh century of Christianity in Lithuania. The interior is covered by a barrel vault that turns into stylised triangular lunettes and rests on non-classical columns and half-columns with stepped capitals. The apse and side chapels are angular volumes lit by natural light coming through the windows and skylights. The ceiling is decorated with rectangular decorative panels. The building is composed of geometric volumes, varied with projections and panels, and covered with a roof of broken configuration. A distinctive feature of the interior is the integrated design of the inner space – the conceptual, theological and plastic connection between architecture and art. The interior is spacious, an effect enhanced by the light falling from above through the barrel vault and the impressive chandeliers. To achieve a spiritual atmosphere, the architect invited well-known artists to collaborate.