PLACES TO VISIT

Bank building

If you wish to return to the period between the two World Wars, you should visit the former building of the Bank of Lithuania. It stands more or less opposite the Catholic church—and that is not a coincidence. In 1940, the building was constructed on a parcel of land purchased from the Franciscan monastery. It is the only building that still recalls the history of banking in Kretinga during the interwar period. Work in the spacious bank began before the war: a waiting room was arranged for visitors, and money was securely stored in vaults. At that time, the building in Kretinga’s old town was considered a symbol of modernity, as it was constructed in line with the principles of functionality and neoclassicism. The bank’s manager even had an apartment within the building. Perhaps the greatest treasure of all was the triptych decorating the waiting hall: Industrial Rural Landscape of Lithuania (Lietuvos pramoninio kaimo peizažas), Morning (Rytas), and Fisherman (Žvejys).