The
Diocese of Samogitia was established when
Samogitia officially converted to Catholicism in 1417. The seat of the diocese was in
Varniai sometimes also known as Medininkai. The
Varniai Priest Seminary was established only in 1623 by Bishop
Stanisław Kiszka. Until 1743, the seminary shared premises with the
Kražiai College. In 1770, a new brick building in the late
Baroque style was built by Bishop .
Motiejus Valančius, future bishop, began his studies at the seminary in 1822. From 1845 to 1850, he was the seminary's rector. When he became the bishop, Valančius organized a
teetotalism movement, spent considerable effort on educating children and adults, and organised the
smuggling and distribution of the
banned Lithuanian books. Valančius lived in a wooden building next to the seminary and planted an
avenue of
poplar trees and established a garden with about twenty different species of fruit trees. After the failed anti-Tsarist
Uprising of 1863,
Tsarist authorities relocated the seminary to
Kaunas. The former seminary building in Varniai was used as military barracks. In 1927–1931, the building housed the
Varniai concentration camp. The new regime of President
Antanas Smetona used the camp to house political prisoners, mainly members of the outlawed
Communist Party of Lithuania. The building housed a secondary school in 1947–1961, and student dormitory and storage of a technical school in 1964–1984. Historical, archaeological, architectural studies of the building were carried out in 1984–1990. The bell tower (burned down in 1785) and the original Baroque roof were reconstructed in 1991–1995 based on the original building depicted in a portrait of Jan Dominik Łopaciński. In 1999, the
government of Lithuania and the
Diocese of Telšiai established the Samogitian Diocese Museum. Over the years, the building suffered heavy damage and neglect, and requires extensive repairs. On 1 July 2015, the Samogitian Diocese Museum became a branch of the based in
Telšiai. ==Museum==