Šilalė St. Francis of Assisi Church

The Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Šilalė, located at M. Valančiaus St. 2, was built in 1909. It is situated in a prominent location, with its main facade facing the old town center. Designed in the Neo-Gothic style by Polish architect Józef P. Dzekonski, the church features a large central tower approximately 60 meters high and smaller towers at its corners. The church has a three-nave layout, each nave adorned with valuable wooden altars. Niches in the side aisles contain notable features: one with a rare crucifix composition depicting the Crucified Christ with outstretched arms, and the other with a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes.

The church is decorated with around twenty valuable wooden sculptures from the 18th and 19th centuries. Its stained glass windows, depicting the lives of Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and various saints, are considered art monuments. The church's organ, installed in 1912 by the renowned Kaliningrad-based master Bruno Gebel, is in the Romantic style. It was consecrated by Samogitian Bishop Pranciškus Karevičius in 1919.

Construction and furnishing of the church cost approximately 100,000 Russian rubles. Local landowners covered part of the expenses, but the majority was funded by parishioners. The church hosts three major traditional feasts: the feast of St. Francis of Assisi (October 4), St. Anne (July 26), and Porcinkulė (August 2). A commemorative plaque with a bas-relief near the entrance notes that Laurynas Rokas Ivinskis (1810–1881), who was baptized in the old town church, was born in an unspecified settlement of the Šilalė parish.