FORMATION AND ARCHITECTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE LITHUANIAN MANOR (YARD) / LIETUVOS DVARO (KIEMO) FORMAVIMASIS IR ARCHITEKTŪRINĖ RAIDA

The article describes architectural development of the Lithuanian manor from the outset until the 20th century. For over 500 years, the manor had remained a foundational axis of the state structure, around which the political, social, economic and cultural life of the country was concentrated. Up to the 15th century, the ruler’s manors (yards) were the core of the statehood in Lithuania. In the 15th – 16th centuries, the ruler’s manor developed into the main political public institutions with permanent residences being established. Afterwards, when the impact of the ruler’s manor diminished, manor homesteads of local noblemen became the focal points of the Western European stylistic architecture in Lithuania. Through noblemen’s manors novelties reached homesteads of the lower strata of nobility, who was greatly influenced by local tradition. Remaining diversity of cultural landscape, architectural expression, urban relationship ‘manor homestead – town’ nowadays are the relics of the old manor, which developed over the centuries and to this day reflects the Lithuanian architecture and its history