Kurtuvėnų bažnyčios raida: nuo pirmosios XV a. iki Šv. apaštalo Jokūbo bažnyčios
Development of Kurtuvėnai church: from the first church in the 15th century to the St. Jacob the Apostle church

Summary/Abstract: The article presents the development of the Kurtuvėnai church as an institution from the end of the 15th century till the foundation of the Nagurskiai in the 18th century. The church was a Catholic (1495–1557; 1631 until now) and Protestant (1557–1631) prayer house in different periods. Until 1799 all churches were wooden. The St. Jacob the Apostle brick church is most probably the third of a worship building in this district.The construction of this church took place from 1781 till 1799. The church was designed by Martynas Knakfusas, a famous architect of the 18th century. He participated only in the first stage of the design (1783). Different masters, like Tissenas, Povilas Šaškauskas, Andrius Veiselis, Laurynas Simaška, Račkovskis and others supervised the construction work. Bricklayers were hired from Prussia; local workers did only subsidiary works. Local wood and bricks baked in Kurtuvėnai were used for construction works.There is a great probability that the founder of the church Jokūbas Nagurskis was buried in the brick cellars of the Kurtuvėnai church.

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