Christopher Pacas, the Chancellor of GDL, built the palace in the seventeenth century. In the 18th century, Simonas Sirutis, an elder of the Kaunas court, purchased the site and renovated the palace. Because of this, it is also known as Sirutis Palace. This is the Maironis Literature Museum (13 Rotušės Avenue).
What happened here before? Following the War of 1812, it operated as a hospital; during the 1863 Uprising, it served as a court-martial; the basement was transformed into a prison; and one of the Uprising's commanders, A. Mackiewicz, was executed. A prison cell called the "corpse rotting room" still exists in the basement. Many rebels and supporters were tortured and executed there. Those who were executed without proof of fact were not carried away; instead, they were stacked in the prison cells. On December 29, 1863, A. Mackevičius, the leader of the uprising, was carried out of the prison in a single shirt, chained to the scaffold wagon at the Zabiela house (today's Hunters' Inn), and taken to the fish market square.
The home at 10 Rotušės Square has its unique history. In 1863, it was converted into a prison. The palace was owned by the Zabiela family, Marshal of Kaunas County, in the 17th and 18th centuries, but it was taken away from the Counts during the 1863 rebellion. The beautiful building has long been without a serious owner and deserved glory. In 1903, the palace held the headquarters of the Kaunas Fortress, with Russian barracks, troops marched in front of it, and stables were set up within. The building lost its original beauty, and its exterior became deteriorated and even blackened, because the Jewish owner rented it to the Kaunas City Council, which was required to provide space for the tsarist army. Thus, despite historical records indicating that it was a rare Baroque residence of a wealthy city citizen, the palace was neither beautiful nor prestigious in the early twentieth century. In 1909, Maironis purchased the palace. The poet decided to repair the structure, even modifying the design of the pediment.
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