The word "bivouette" is French. It is a building on a mineral spring from which mineral water is drawn.
In the 19th century, the mineral springs of Birštonas were equipped with frames and roofs. The discovered and tested spring was named by the owner of the resort, I. Kvinta, after his daughter Viktorija but was later renamed Vytautas at the suggestion of writer J. Tumas-Vaižgantas (Vaižgantas first suggested that the spring could be called "Vytautas's Tears"). The spring was marked by a sculpture in the shape of a whale, with mineral water flowing from its mouth. The city was adorned by it until the Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Station was established. However, when the water level of the Nemunas River rose, the sculpture, which was a symbol of the town, was submerged.
The significance of the mineral spring is also reflected in the resort's coat of arms, which depicts a fantastic golden fish on a blue background, with a silver jet of water coming out of its back. This is the legendary whale reborn in the resort's coat of arms; it is like a symbol linking the resort's past and future.
The legend of Birutė's tears is also linked to mineral water. The story goes that Birutė, a young girl, used to visit the area and one day met the widower Duke Kęstutis, who had arrived in the region. The girl soon fell in love with the knight, and the day came when Kęstutis asked for her hand. However, Birutė's mother became angry and warned her not to marry Kęstutis, as she would be his second wife. Birutė began to cry, and her mother replied: "Cry all you want, you're not getting married anyway." She jokingly added: "If your tears turn into a lake, then you can get married.” The joke became a reality: an underground lake was formed after many tears had been shed. Birutė got married and gave birth to a first-born son, Vytautas. Many years later, the underground lake was discovered, and today, we can still taste Birutė's tears, named after her first son.
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