Knygnešių spring

Graži vieta, LT

Knygnešiai Spring ("Book Smugglers' Spring") flows in Vilkai village, Plungė district, beside the old Plungė-Žemaičių Kalvarija road (now Knygnešių street), and was declared a state-protected natural heritage object in 2016. The village's name is tied to an ancient Baltic sacred-site complex - a hillock shrine, streams and this spring. The spring's name comes from knygnešystė, the book-smuggling movement: it served as a resting and orientation point for smugglers carrying banned Lithuanian-language books from East Prussia to Alsėdžiai or Žemaičių Kalvarija. Its water was believed to have healing properties, especially for eye ailments.