Bridges on the Daugyvenė River, Gikoniai, Pakruojo, Šiauliai, Lithuania

According to my third cousin Osvaldas Guokas, near the Savickas windmill and the Jasilonis building (discussed in my last post) near Gikoniai (in Pakruojo, Šiauliai, Lithuania) was an old bridge across the Daugyvenė river.  Osvaldas said, 

"It is a good place for swimming and my uncle and other children from Čelkiai went here in summer time in childhood."  He found the place where the old bridge was located, on an old road from Gikoniai to Šeduva.  In the photos below, you can see where the bridge once was, with some of its stone supports in the water and the wooden supports to the side.

Above and below:  Site of the old bridge over the Daugyvenė river, south of Gikoniai, Pakruojo, Šiauliai, Lithuania.  Photos by Osvaldas Guokas, 2 June 2017.

Near the home of Steponas Radauskas (1899-1944), my first cousin twice removed, at the north end of Gikoniai, there is another bridge over the Daugyvenė river.  According to Osvaldas, it was constructed during the Soviet era.  On the other side of the river is the village of Plaučiškiai.  

The daughter of Steponas, Aldona Radauskaitė Zigmantavičienė (1934-2018), married Alfonsas Zigmantavičius (1929-2004), who was from Plaučiškiai, and after their marriage they lived in that village.  His workplace was apparently closer to the Radauskas home in Gikoniai, so Osvaldas thought he organized a group to build the bridge to shorten their commute over the old bridge.

However, Osvaldas later learned, from talking with older ladies in Plaučiškiai, that it was constructed earlier than that.  When he told the ladies his theory, they "just smiled and said, 'Oh no! He did it directly from Plaučiškiai to the Radauskas yard, for easier visits with Aldona Radauskaitė. It is a Bridge of Love!'"

Above:  bridge over the Daugyvenė river, leaving Gikoniai and heading towards Plaučiškiai in Šiauliai county, Lithuania.

Below:  map of memories of Aldona Radauskaitė Zigmantavičienė of the Gikoniai area, annotated by Osvaldas Guokas to mark the old bridge and the "Bridge of Love" over the Daugyvenė river.

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