The Church of St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist in Anciškis combines elements of Classicism, Baroque, and folk architecture. Built in 1846 and moved from Joskildai village by priest Stanislovas Lukianskis, it has preserved its original form despite several renovations.
The rectangular church features a three-sided apse, an open portico with four wooden columns, and Neo-Baroque altars. The main altar is especially ornate, with a tabernacle decorated by a figure of the Lamb of God. A wooden belfry and a stone fence surround the churchyard.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, priests carried out major repairs: vaulted ceilings were installed, new oak foundations laid, the tower and roof restored, and the interior painted. During the Soviet era, electricity was added and both the church and belfry were maintained.
The church contains very old seven-stop organs and a belfry with two historic bells — one cast in Warsaw in 1876 and dedicated to St. Anthony, the other cast in Kaunas and dedicated to St. Augustine.
Nearby stand a rectory, barn, and bathhouse. In 1906, emigrants funded a shrine “Christ Bearing the Cross,” and in 1996 a pillar-cross was erected for the church’s 150th anniversary.
The Anciškis cemetery is the resting place of freedom fighters, including volunteers and partisans from the struggles of 1919–1950. The most notable monument is a mosaic of Christ’s face by stained-glass artist Marija Anortė Mackelaitė, created for her parents.
