Kybartai Railway Station First Building Complex Customs Warehouse

The vaulted cellars, built in 1870, under Kybartai railway station, were unexpectedly discovered during the renovation of the former customs warehouse building in 2002. The solidly built, arched constructions building probably stored goods that passed through customs, because before World War I, about 10% of all exports and imports of tsarist Russia passed through Kybartai, and cellars filled with ice served as refrigerators. It is said that once it was possible to walk through these tunnels to the railway station building and the nearest villages. What was the real purpose of the tunnel is a matter of speculation. Maybe it has to do with security, because a Russian tsar's steam locomotive with wagons adapted to run on German tracks used to stand right here. A few years ago, the Kybartai community took over the initiative to take care of the vault.