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The history of Ruta factory goes back to 1913 when a 36 year old confectioner Antanas Gricevicius set up a caramel cooking pot in a small wooden house in Siauliai, reports LETA/ELTA.

Before the First World War, Siauliai was home to six confectionary factories owned by Russians, Germans, Jewish and Polish. Lithuanian Gricevicius wanted to highlight the nationality of his small factory and decided to call it after Lithuania's national plant – "ruta" (rue).

The skills of Ruta confectioners were awarded with 4 golden medals in Lithuanian agriculture exhibitions and two medals in international competitions in Italy and England.

The visitors of the new Chocolate Museum will watch the process of chocolate making and make their own piece of chocolate.

"A visitor in our museum will feel like a Spaniard setting his for in Central America for the first time: this is where chocolate was brought from. A human size sculpture of an American Indian and a cacao tree will meet the visitors at the door," says Algirdas Gluodas, director general of Ruta.