Lithuanian Straw Gardens

A stylised straw garden composed of geometric forms of varying sizes, with one point reaching upward to the sky and another downward to the earth. To the upper left: the issuing state "LIETUVA"; to the upper right: the Lithuanian mint mark; to the centre right: the year "2024".

Straw gardens — šiaudiniai sodai in Lithuanian — are a traditional craft that has been cultivated for centuries, particularly in Lithuania's rural regions. Dried rye straw is woven into delicate, geometric shapes — rhombuses, triangles and polygons — assembled into voluminous mobiles. Originally, these fragile constructions were hung over the table at Christmas dinner, where their movements in the draught were considered a good omen for the coming year. The craft is closely tied to the agricultural calendar — rye serving both as a staple food and as the raw material for festive decoration. The shapes are not arbitrarily ornamental: elements pointing upward and downward symbolise, in Lithuanian folk tradition, the connection between earth and sky, between the mundane and the transcendent.

In 2016, UNESCO added šiaudiniai sodai to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, honouring their cultural significance within Lithuania as well as the active efforts to pass on the knowledge of material selection, weaving techniques and symbolic forms to younger generations. Today, folk art centres and individual craftspeople across the country offer courses and workshops to keep the skill alive. With its 2024 2-euro commemorative coin, Lietuva brings this cultural heritage onto a European stage, underscoring its importance as part of national identity.