Clan Rising
Panemunė Castle today

Lithuania · Restored

Panemunė Castle

Panemunė Castle is an early 17th-century three-winged manor-castle on a wooded bluff above the Nemunas River in Lithuania. It presents a long, enclosed courtyard flanked by two prominent round towers and surrounded by parkland and an ornamental pond.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons

First raised

1604

Its prime

1604

Today

Restored

As it stood in 1604

What Panemunė Castle looked like in its prime.

Long three-winged stone manor forming a U around a central cobbled courtyard, with two tall cylindrical corner towers rising at the outer ends of the main wing. Pale plastered walls and regularly spaced windows contrast with steep red-tiled roofs and evenly spaced white chimneys along the ridges. The round towers show horizontal stone banding and conical red roofs. The complex sits atop a wooded river bluff above a wide meandering river, with a pond and parkland on the lower slopes; at its prime the roofs and towers are complete.

Its story

The story of Panemunė Castle.

Panemunė's origins stretch back to the medieval period. In 1535 the castle and its lands were granted by King-Grand Duke Sigismund the Old to the Stankevičius-Bilevičius family of Samogitia, who built a wooden manor house on the grounds of the almost-ruined castle. In 1597 Stanislovas Stankevičius-Bilevičius inherited the manor and soon sold it to János Eperjes, a timber merchant and nobleman of Hungarian descent.

Eperjes envisioned a grander residence and commissioned the construction of a new castle, raised in the early 17th century. His family remained owners for the next 158 years, but by the close of the 17th century their finances had deteriorated so far that parts of the estate were mortgaged or sold, and in the first half of the 18th century the residence fell into disrepair. In 1753 the family sold it to Colonel Leonas Igelstromas, the elder of Gulbinai.

An excellent example of Renaissance and Baroque architecture with elements of late Gothic design — a rectangular layout with four corner towers and a defensive wall — Panemunė is regarded as probably the most authentic residential castle surviving in Lithuania, standing restored on its wooded bluff above the Nemunas amid parkland and an ornamental pond.

Step inside

7 places to explore in 1604.

The record describes 7 distinct spots at Panemunė Castle — including the full exterior approach. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.

River approach (Nemunas)Central cobbled courtyardSouth pond and park pathNorth façade facing the fieldsEastern cylindrical tower exteriorWest tower and rooflineForecourt and main entrance

Create History

Recreate Panemunė Castle with AI to explore it.

The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1604 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.

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Whose castle

Clans who held Panemunė Castle.

The families that held Panemunė Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.

  • Stankevičius-Bilevičius

    Granted to the Stankevičius-Bilevičius family of Samogitia by Sigismund the Old in 1535; sold in 1597.

  • Eperjes

    Bought by János Eperjes in 1597; the Eperjes family were owners for 158 years, selling in 1753.

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