Lekėčių Didysis šaltinis


Useful Information

Location: Lekėčiai.
From Lekėčiai road 3805 for 1.2 km. Small parking lot at the road, 5 minutes walk.
(54.996705, 23.510863)
Open: no restrictions.
[2021]
Fee: free.
[2021]
Classification: spring
Light: n/a.
Dimension:  
Guided tours: self guided
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography: P. Gedžiūnas, Z. Zanevskij, K. Kadūnas (2014): Lekečių (Didysis) šaltinis, pdf
Address: Lekėčių Didysis šaltinis, Draugystės st., Lekėčiai, Šakių r.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

2016 Šakiai forest enterprise renovates the access, metal staircase installed.

Description

Lekėčių Didysis šaltinis (Great Spring of Lekėčiai), also called Didysis šaltinis or Lekėčių šaltinis, is quite famous and popular among the locals. The water of the spring "brightens the face, removes fog from the eyes, but also cleanses the soul". The Great Spring is the biggest spring in Rūdšilis and the source of an only 1.5 km long tributary of the Liekė river. It is a spring at the bottom of a ravine and accessible with a new iron staircase with a platform. The spring is located in the middle of the Lekėčiai forest, which is a nature preserve.

The spring has become less productive during the last 100 years. Before World War I the locals went to the spring to celebrate the spring, but this custom was abandoned. During World War II the Germans built a narrow gauge railway to transport the trees away which were cut in the forest. After the war there were no big trees left and the lumbering came to an end. But in the last years the popularity of the spring boosted. Even on workdays the parking lot is often full of cars. People come with empty bottles to collect the water which they say is very pure and clean, and tastes good. Often queues form at the spring, and you have to wait to collect the water. We are not sure if they simply mistrust the public tab water or if they think it is healthy.

The spring is filled with fine white sand, the water streaming through the sand forms small pits which change and reform continually. When the yield increases, after heavy rains, the sand starts to boil.