We visited the Rasos Cemetery in Vilnius, where Čiurlionis found his eternal rest. These oldest Vilnius cemeteries, distinguished by their tranquillity and sacred beauty of the past, guard the souls of many figures important to our country. On the map presented near the entrance, you will see how to find Čiurlionis’s grave.

❯ We invite you to honour the memory of Čiurlionis – the creator, the genius, and above all – the human being ↗.

Čiurlionis died on 10 April 1911 (according to the old calendar – 28 March) at the “Red Manor” sanatorium in Pustelnik, Poland, having caught pneumonia, at only 35 years of age.

The health crisis struck Čiurlionis in St Petersburg, exhausted by difficult living conditions and intense creative work. When the news reached Lithuania, Sofija came to visit her husband. Soon afterwards, they returned together to Druskininkai, where they spent a month. When it became clear that hospital treatment was necessary, the “Red Manor” sanatorium was chosen. Deeply concerned friends of Konstantinas helped to collect the necessary funds.

The building that housed the “Red Manor” Sanatorium © ciurlionis.eu

At that time, Pustelnik was the name of an estate near the town of Marki, where Dr K. Olechevičius had opened a private “Red Manor” Sanatorium for those afflicted by spiritual ailments. Čiurlionis spent about a year there. Today, little is known with certainty about how that year passed, what treatment methods were used, or who became the artist’s friends.

Although Čiurlionis’s health had begun to improve, one day he caught a chill while walking in the yard and fell ill with pneumonia and complications.

On 13 April 1911 (according to the old calendar – 31 March), he was buried at the Rasos Cemetery, on the highest point of the Hill of the Literati.

Grave of M. K. Čiurlionis © neakivaizdinisvilnius.lt

About fifty people – family members, friends, and colleagues – joined the procession for the artist’s final journey. Taking turns, the coffin was carried by Antanas Žmuidzinavičius, Mykolas Römeris, Ferdynand Ruszczyc, Andrius Domaševičius, Mykolas Sleževičius, and Donatas Malinauskas. In the cemetery chapel, a requiem Mass was celebrated and the grave consecrated by Father Vincas Jarulaitis.

Ferdynand Ruszczyc, one of Čiurlionis’s art teachers in Warsaw, highlighted the artist’s legacy in his eulogy:

We, who saw his talent blossom from its very first unexpected appearances to the abundant gifts we awaited each year, now bid farewell to a man of unblemished purity, to a friend of noble aspirations, and will deeply cherish in our memory his tragically interrupted song… There is a painting by Čiurlionis well known to you. From the awakening light rises a bird which, with the sweep of its wide wings, soars above the mountain peaks and flies into the distance. It is The Message. Čiurlionis came bearing just such a message. He was the herald of a new, young art to which he gave his own distinct mark. And to his homeland and his people, he proclaimed the beauty of the spring awakening within them.

The author of M. K. Čiurlionis’s tomb monument was Juozas Zikaras. The monument’s forms evoke motifs from Čiurlionis’s paintings. It was reconstructed in 1965 by architect Eduardas Budreika.

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Prepared based on sources:

ciurlioniokelias.lt, ciurlionis.eu

M. K. Čiurlionis's eternal resting place

M. K. Čiurlionis's eternal resting place

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