Kuliai is a small town in Samogitia, only about 17 kilometres from Plungė. The settlement itself has been mentioned since the 13th century, in the 18th century it belonged to the Jesuits, and at the beginning of the 20th century the town was taken care of by the Oginskis family (who also owned nearby Plunge and Rietavas).

Around 1900, Mykolas Oginskis, together with the inhabitants of the town and the efforts of the pastor of Kuliai, V. Jarulaitis (the uncle of Sofija Kymantaitė, the future wife of M. K. Čiurlionis), erected a new brick church. In 1898-1901, the writer and priest Juozas Tumas Vaižgantas, who was very concerned about national revival and the distribution of banned books in Samogitia and Aukštaitija, served as a vicar of this church. Jurgis Gudas and Kazimieras Šleivys also distributed forbidden books in Kuliai. Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas managed to involve Duke M. Oginskis in this cultured, but then forbidden activity.

At the beginning of the 20th century, this small Samogitian town became a centre of national and cultural revival. It was in this town that Sofija Kymantaitė, the future wife of M. K. Čiurlionis, lived.

Kuliai and M. K. Čiurlionis

Čiurlionis himself did not visit Kuliai for a long time, but he felt the influence of Kuliai through his wife Sofija Kymantaitė, who lived there for a long time (1893-1904) and who was passionate about the ideas of Lithuania. Sofija's parents moved to Kuļi in 1893, when Vincentas Jarulaitis (Sofija's uncle) offered the Kymantai family to move from Joniškis and help look after the parsonage farm. Here, Sofija began her studies and, after meeting Juozas Tumas Vaižgantas, began to work diligently on the intricacies of the Lithuanian language and to spread its importance to other countrymen.

To commemorate the time of this important personality in Kuliai, the Sofija Festival has been organised since 2017, during which sculptures are created, works are written, and concerts are held.

In 1909, M.K. Čiurlionis also visited Kuliai with Sofija: the newlyweds visited Sofija's parents.

Kuliai

Kuliai

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