Kretinga Bernadine Monastery

The Bernadine Monastery and Church of the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kretinga, Lithuania, is one of the oldest churches and the first monastery in Samogitia. The masonry buildings of the monastery and the church were built in 1605–1617. They were sponsored by a nobleman of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, on his wife's initiative, and the development of the whole town of Kretinga is directly tied to the establishment of the Franciscan monastery.