The Kretinga (Padvariai village) Basin Stone
Coordinates: 55.899273 21.248571
Object address: Vilniaus street 20 (in the courtyard of the Museum), Kretinga, Lithuania
Municipality: Kretinga district
At the moment, the Kretinga (Padvariai village) Basin Stone, also referred to as the Altar, stands in the courtyard in front of the Kretinga Museum Manor. It is a dark pink granite boulder with slightly convex smooth sides.
In 1939, Ignas Jablonskis, an ethnologist, was visiting the reconstruction site of the former women’s monastery and stumbled upon the stone. The ancient basin stone was turned on its side in one of the Padvariai farms. In 1966, Jablonskis set out to study the surrounding area for any culturally relevant cues that could explain the stone, but the search was unsuccessful.
Since there were plans to remove and destroy the stone, it was relocated in 1966 to Kretinga. The idea was to place the stone in front of the Žilvinas Cinema, to serve as a part of the composition of Eglė the Queen of Serpents ceramic figures.
In 1982, the stone was once again relocated to the courtyard of the Kretinga Museum. In 1972, it was declared to be an archaeological finding of national significance.
Source: Kretingos enciklopedija