Description of the attraction
Amber is the only precious stone mined on the territory of Lithuania. Baltic amber is also called Lithuanian gold. It is widely known and appreciated all over the world, not to mention Lithuania itself. The country has several galleries and museums dedicated to amber. In 1995, a museum was opened in the city of Vilnius, dedicated to the beautiful creation of nature, the sun stone of the Lithuanian land. Lithuanian land has no minerals, and nature gave the people of Lithuania amber.
There are two versions of the appearance of amber. The first, scientific version believes that amber was formed from the resin of pines that grew in Europe fifty million years ago. As a result of exposure to water and some other unknown chemical compounds, a reaction occurred that favored the appearance of this stone.
The second version is a beautiful, romantic legend. It says that a long time ago the goddess Jurate lived at the bottom of the sea. She had a beautiful amber palace under the water. One day she met a handsome fisherman named Kastytis, and they fell in love. When the god Perkuns found out about this, he flew into a rage and drowned a simple fisherman who dared to love the goddess. After that, he sent lightning bolts into the underwater amber palace, destroying it and smashing it into small pieces. They say that large amber stones are fragments of a former palace, and small stones that people find on the shore are the tears of a goddess for her beloved.
Amber has been known for a long time; back in the Stone Age, jewelry, amulets, and plates were made from it. During archaeological excavations, in the burials of the Paleolithic era, such amulets and jewelry were found made of raw amber.
There is an opinion that amber has magical healing properties. Therefore, in the old days, amulets were most often made from it, designed to protect their owners from diseases and adversity. There are countries where amber is considered almost a panacea for all diseases. For example, a necklace made of raw amber was used to treat the thyroid gland. They say that processed amber loses its medicinal and miraculous properties.
This sun stone can be found everywhere in Lithuania. But in order to get to know this wonderful creation of nature better, you must visit the home of this precious stone - the Amber Museum in Vilnius.
The museum building is relatively new, built in the Baroque style, and deserves attention in itself. The fact is that during the construction, during archaeological excavations, two kilns and many ceramic fragments were discovered in the basement square. All these findings are on display in the museum as a separate exhibition.
The first floor of the museum building is built at the level of 17th century streets, which were located about seventy cm below the current streets. The foundation, of course, was laid even lower: at the level of buildings of the 14-15th centuries.
The museum presents the richest collection of natural amber. Here you can see stones of all kinds of colors, sizes and shapes. A rare collection of stones with the inclusion of plants and animals, which are perfectly preserved in the transparent body of the stone, is separately exhibited. Most often, stones with small insects are found. But there is such a rare stone in the museum, which has enclosed a shell in its eternal embrace. It remains a mystery how she fell into stone captivity.
A special place in the expositions of the museum is occupied by the hall where the archaeological collection of amber - the treasure of Juodkrante - is exhibited. This is the largest such collection in the world. It includes 434 amber artifacts from raw amber, in various colors and shapes. A separate stand is dedicated to other amber deposits in the world. A separate exposition presents amber jewelry created by local craftsmen. They are true works of art and can satisfy the most sophisticated tastes of connoisseurs. These masterpieces are made using both traditional and modern stone processing methods.
To visit Lithuania and not visit this museum is like not visiting this country at all, because this stone is identified with the country itself.
