Žukiškės chapel can be clearly seen while driving on the road from Trakai towards Rūdiškės, in the shade of the forest behind Žukiškės village. It is a Baublys tree monument of approximately 100 years old (created in the early twentieth century), the younger brother of the famous Baublys trees of Dionizas Poška located in Bijotai
The monument is an oak with a height of 2.2 m, diameter of 1.3 m, and a niche carved in its trunk. It is covered with a low shingle roof with a wooden cross attached to the top. The niche of the chapel is covered with glass. The chapel used to have sculptures, but now there is a small picture of a saint, candles and artificial flowers brought by the people of Žukiškės and other surrounding villages. This oak chapel is a perfect fusion of paganism and Christianity. The oak has long been a sacred tree for Lithuanians. Baublys trees were more common in Samogitia and were rarely found in Eastern Lithuania. This chapel is one of only a few surviving Baublys trees in this region.
Trakai District Municipality Administration received the consent of Trakai History Museum to preserve this object of cultural importance, and the consent of Vilnius branch of the Cultural Heritage Department to relocate it. A copy of the chapel was made by member of the Lithuanian Painters’ Association, sculptor Mindaugas Šnipas.
Source: www.keturiossostines.lt
