Žasliai Traditional Craft Centre

Visitors to Žasliai Traditional Craft Centre share their unanimous opinion that their stay at the Centre exceeded expectations. People who participated in such educational programmes as baking a traditional tree cake known as Šakotis, or Žasliai porridge cooking, often describe their experience as a "...nice place to stay...", and "...much more interesting and more fun than we expected...". Opened in 2016, the centre is becoming more and more popular both as a place for tours and a spot for non-traditional celebrations.

The Centre accommodates a traditional bread oven built by Dainius Strazdas, a certified craftsman of national heritage, a special oven for tree cakes.  All visitors to the Centre can watch the wool heckling machine and the weaving loom operating in an old-fashioned way. Each month a new art exhibition is displayed. The Centre holds programmes for groups consisting of 15 persons or more for about one hour and a half to two hours in total.

The Traditional Craft Centre was established in the outbuilding of the Centre for Culture. This building is a former Jewish Synagogue. Before the Second World War, a sizeable portion of citizens in Žasliai was Jewish. They were mostly craftsman and businessmen. First mentioned in 1555, the Žasliai Jewish Community was one of the first such communities mentioned in the history of Lithuania. Leopoldas Godovskis, a world's famous pianist, comes from Žasliai. His bust can be found at the Centre for Culture.

Citizens of Žasliai call their town Minor Trakai because it is surrounded by three lakes and the majority of its citizens live on the coast of these lakes. If you happen to visit Žasliai, go to the central square, also known unofficially as Blinda square.  In 1972, a legendary movie about folk hero Tadas Blinda was filmed here.  You can also visit a church built on a hill, and take a walk along the lake.

Spring is the season when this nice, neat town of 600 inhabitants welcome a host of visitors during dahlia-fest. In summer, the town welcomes a traditional running race around Žasliai lake, and in autumn locals celebrate the Autumn-Fest on Blinda Square.  If you plan to visit Žasliai, educate yourself about these annual events.

The most convenient way to reach the town is by car.