Expositions

We invite you to visit the archeological site of Kernavė, two of its museum expositions and an exhibition hall.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE MUSEUM

Kerniaus st. 4A, in Kernavė you can visit the interactive exposition of the museum, where you will get acquainted with the UNESCO World Heritage Site - Kernavė Archaeological Site, the work of archaeologists, their findings and the material of annual archaeological research conducted since 1979.

OPEN-AIR MUSEUM

In 2016 an open-air museum exposition was opened - the 13th and 14th century fragment of the medieval town of Kernavė, which was rebuild according to the material of archeological research. A fragment of the medieval town of Kernavė is a complex of three craftsmen's homesteads, also called Skansen. Only an ax was used for the construction, thus accurately reproducing the technology of the time. You can visit the open-air museum exposition during the museum's opening hours.

Admission is free.

EXHIBITIONS HALL


Various temporary exhibitions are exhibited in the Kernavė Archaeological Site Museum, in the exhibition hall on the second floor. You can visit the exhibition hall during the museum's opening hours.

Admission is free.




ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE MUSEUM
After visiting the exposition of the Kernavė Archaeological Site Museum, you will get acquainted with the UNESCO World Heritage Site - Kernavė Archaeological Site, the work of archaeologists and the results of annual archaeological research carried out since 1979. The Kernavė Archaeological Site Museum has 3 exhibition halls, which present: Kernavė Archaeological Site, prehistory and the Middle Ages (13th – 14th centuries). The expositions are modern and interactive - the masters of experimental archeology have recreated the production of many of the exhibited tools and the ways of using the artifacts. You will be able to observe this in the footage shown in the exhibition. For curious visitors, the terminals provide detailed information about the archeological site, the prehistory and the Middle Ages of Kernavė.

OPEN-AIR MUSEUM

13th – 14th c. RECONSTRUCTION OF KERNAVĖ CRAFTSMAN YARDS

Scientific reconstruction of three yards of townspeople who lived at the valley, under Kernavė mounds, in Pajauta valley. Archaeological excavations in the wet cultural layer have found the remains of well-preserved wooden buildings and fences, and a large number of organic artefacts made of wood, leather, horn provided lots of valuable information about the living environment, life and crafts of the townspeople of that time. Research data revealed that even several generations of jewelers, blacksmiths and hornworkers lived in these courtyards in the Middle Ages and practiced hereditary crafts. You can see their artefacts and tools in the exposition of the Kernavė Archaeological Site Museum.

 

Medieval Kernavė is a city of wooden buildings, where a community of craftsmen, merchants and soldiers flourished. 13th – 14th c. the city covered an area of ​​about 40 ha, had a well-established mound defense system, a network of courtyards and streets. The courtyards were separated from the street and the neighbors by vertical boards and logs or a fence braided from branches. They housed one residential building and several industrial and economic buildings. The buildings were wooden structures covered with plank roofs. Slab floors and clay ovens used for heating and cooking were found in residential houses and craftsmen's workshops. Softwood was used for all construction work. Expensive wrought iron details were used little in the wooden architecture of the time, built without nails.

 

13th – 14th c. Kernavė was an important political, administrative and economic center of Lithuania. The restored fragment of Kernavė at that time is an attempt to reconstruct the living environment of the early urban community.

PARODŲ SALĖ

EXHIBITION "4 DECADES"


In the exhibition hall of the Kernavė Archaeological Site Museum since 2019. October 18 you can visit the exhibition “4 Decades” dedicated to the 40th anniversary of archeological research in Kernavė. The exhibition presents archeological research in Kernavė during this 40-year period, the archaeologists who worked there, photographs, video material and articles reflecting the previous research year.

We invite you to visit the exhibition during the museum's opening hours, free of charge.

The exhibition was prepared by the Kernavė State Cultural Reserve Directorate.