The Lost Shtetl Museum – Among the 7 Most Beautiful Museums in the World

The Jewish history museum The Lost Shtetl, opened last year in Šeduva, has been included in the 2026 list of the world’s most beautiful museums, announced by the international architecture and design awards Prix Versailles. This year’s list features seven museums from around the globe, and The Lost Shtetl appears alongside exceptional projects from Abu Dhabi, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Tokyo, Arlington, and Tashkent. It is the first museum in the Baltic states to be included in this prestigious list.

Prix Versailles is a global architecture and design award, announced this year on May 4 during a ceremonial event at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The awards recognize projects that, through architecture and exhibition storytelling, open up diverse themes—from history and memory to science and innovation—and redefine contemporary cultural heritage.

According to Dr. Jolanta Mickutė, a specialist in Jewish history and head of the museum’s Education Department, this recognition shows that a sensitive narrative about the history of Lithuanian Jews can be relevant and compelling to diverse audiences.

“Within a relatively short time, we see that the museum is attracting attention not only from visitors in Lithuania and abroad, but also from the international professional community. Such recognition shows that the museum’s architecture, exhibition language, and the story it tells are understandable and impactful in a broader global context,” says Dr. Mickutė.

The Museum Compared to a Mirage

In presenting The Lost Shtetl, the Prix Versailles jury highlights its ability to convey, through architecture, what is difficult to express in words, describing it almost as a mirage. Opened to visitors last year, the museum tells the story of a vanished world—the life and destruction of Lithuanian Jewish towns known as shtetls.

The award organizers note that the museum reveals the everyday life, traditions, and lifestyle of a typical Lithuanian Jewish family through real stories connected to Šeduva. In this way, the story of one town becomes a window into the broader world of Eastern European shtetls.

Prix Versailles emphasizes the museum’s architectural concept, created by Finnish architect Rainer Mahlamäki in collaboration with landscape architects Enea Landscape Architecture. The concept is based on the silhouette of a shtetl: the building’s volumes and rooflines resemble a small town, and the entire structure blends sensitively into the landscape.

According to the organizers, the museum’s façade merges with its surroundings—the building seems to dissolve and reappear against the changing sky. Each space is designed as a separate house with its own story. The jury also highlighted the nearby Memory Park, which extends this living symbol of remembrance.

A Decade-Long International Collaboration

The Lost Shtetl museum was initiated and established by the Switzerland-registered philanthropic organization YouthAid Foundation. The creation of the museum, which lasted more than a decade, became an example of exceptional international cooperation: more than 30 companies from 8 countries contributed to the project.

2026 List of the World’s Most Beautiful Museums (Prix Versailles)

• Zayed National Museum, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates• Museum of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China• “Xuelei” Museum of Scents, Guangzhou, China• “MoN Takanawa: Museum of Narratives,” Tokyo, Japan• The Lost Shtetl Museum, Šeduva, Lithuania• National Medal of Honor Museum, Arlington, USA• Center for Islamic Civilization, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

By entering the Prix Versailles list, The Lost Shtetl stands alongside previously awarded museums such as the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, the Polish History Museum in Warsaw, the Grand Palais in Paris, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Audeum Sound Museum in Seoul, and Het Loo Palace in the Netherlands.

This is the second major international recognition for the museum in a short time. Recently, The Lost Shtetl also received the prestigious iF Design Award in the Interior Architecture discipline, in the Art and Culture Exhibitions and Installations category.

In its first six months of operation, the museum has already welcomed around 47,000 visitors from Lithuania, various European countries, the United States, Australia, South Africa, and Israel. During its first year, the museum’s exhibition, educational activities, and professional guided tours are available free of charge, though visitors are encouraged to register in advance.