Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania

If you only find a single museum in Vilnius, make it this one. On a site that’s been settled since the 4th century AD stands that the most recent at a procession of palaces, destroyed differently remodelled and rebuilt. The palace, built for its grand dukes, has been renovated to home an atmospheric museum of history and art. Visitors with several hours can go for entrance, accessing four’paths’ through Lithuanian history choose even two or one.

Vilnius Cathedral

Stately Vilnius Cathedral, divorced from the freestanding belfry, can be a national emblem and the town’s most instantly recognisable construction. Known in full as the Cathedral of St Stanislav and St Vladislav, this columned neoclassical cathedral occupies a place originally used for the worship of Perkūnas, the Lithuanian thunder god.

Register ahead of tour the crypts, the final resting place of several prominent Lithuanians including Vytautas the Great (1350–14-30 ).

Vilnius University

Founded through the Catholic Counter Reformation in 1579, Vilnius University was run by Jesuits for just two decades. It became one of learning, and also the university lived shut-down re-branding under Soviet ruler and closure by the Nazis. Its spectacular architectural outfit comprises a bell tower, baroque fresco-laden, courtyard and church hall, most which are open for visitors.

Museum of Genocide Victims

The former headquarters of the KGB (and before the Gestapo, Polish occupiers and Tsarist judiciary) houses a museum specializing in thousands of members of the Lithuanian immunity have been murdered, imprisoned or imprisoned by the Soviet Union by WWII until the 1960s. Wooden annexes Back lit photographs and also a layout that is disorienting sharpen the impact of horrors summarized in graphic detail. Most unsettling is the descent to the prison cells, and also yet one cushioned to muffle noises.

Cathedral Square

Katedros aikštė buzzes with local life. From the 19th century markets and fairs were held here and there conducted a moat around so that ships can sail to the cathedral door, what’s the perimeter of the square. Over the moat were towers and walls, the sole remaining part of which is that the 57m-tall belfry near the Palace’s western end.

In front of the entry to the Royal Palace, at the eastern end, is the equestrian statue of Gediminas, built on an old pagan site.

Tolerance Centre

Some of the main divisions of the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum, the Tolerance Centre is a performance space, and a tradition of culture and Jewish history. Its multimedia exposition concerning the Holocaust has been framed from the point of view of a young child, along with stories of defiance and survival have been told. Displays, from picture art to instruments, are arranged over its own flooring.

Cathedral Bell Tower

Climb the creaky stairs to the freestanding belfry of all Vilnius Cathedral, once part of this city’s 13th-century defences. Towering 57m significant, it’s certainly one of the city’s earliest brick buildings in addition to Vilnius’ most famed landmark. Bells dating back to the 15 th century dangle at the display space, however the reasons to navigate stairwells and the narrow lands will be the views across the metropolis. In 5pm, hear the bells ring for several moments.

Sts Johns’ Church

The Complete title is’Church of St Johns, St John the Baptist and St John the Apostle and Evangelist’, however’Sts Johns’ (plural) will do well. Founded in 1387, it predates the 16th century university within which it’s situated, even though present structure was built after an 18thcentury fire. Its campanile contains a Foucault’s Pendulum displaying the earth’s spinning, and could be the tallest structure in Old Town. Views from the top are equally all magnificent.

Užupis Art Incubator

One of two divisions of the Užupis Republic’s powerhouse, the Galera shows temporary exhibitions and invites artists from around the world to take part in a conversation about artwork. Outside the gallery, the adjoining garden and the river bank are open-air galleries created by talent from Užupis and farther afield. There exists a grand piano and also rock cairns on the river, a giant horse and stone sculpture over the path, and installations.

MO Museum

Opened in October 2018, this assemblage of contemporary art and photography would be the country’s first museum. A union of angles, lustrous white and glass plaster has been designed by visionary Daniel Libeskind, the architect behind Berlin’s Jewish Museum. Approximately 5000 20th-century artworks are constructed within, freshened by events that are occasional and exhibitions.

Mindaugas

This landmark depicts early unifier of these Lithuanian tribes from the first king of the country and the century.

Antakalnis Cemetery

In this leafy suburb, little-visited by tourists, Antakalnis Cemetery is the last resting place of locals and luminaries . Art nouveau brutalist and modernist headstones give the cemetery, a of the center, the feel of an open-air sculpture gallery. A sculpture of the Madonna memorialiss those murdered by Soviet forces on 13. A Bolt or taxi service from the railway station costs around $6.

Gediminas Castle & Museum

With its hilltop location above the junction of the Neris and Vilnia Rivers, Gediminas Castle will be the last of buildings inhabiting this site since Neolithic times and a collection of settlements. This brick version, built by Grand Duke Vytautas in 15th century, harbours a engaging museum about the city with floors elaborating on centuries of war weaponry and history. The highlight is your panorama of Vilnius from the roof.

Gates of Dawn

By the standing of five portals which were built in to the city 24, the boundary of oldtown is indicated. An appropriately grand Solution to enter Old Town is that the tradition of Mary the Mother of Mercy, home the’Vilnius Madonna’. Framed in silver, this painting of the Virgin Mary brings pilgrims from across Europe.

National Museum of Lithuania

This broad museum (in the newest Arsenal) exhibits art and artefacts from Lithuanian lifetime from Neolithic times to the present moment. Historical history is shown in 2 nd millennium BC arrow-heads and 7th century tomb hauls (beating is not necessarily good), while the lifestyles of well-to-do Lithuanians of recent centuries have been discharged with velvet-lined sleds and elaborately painted furniture. The highlight would be that the folk customs room, replete with decor, sheets and painted wooden spans.

Presidential Palace

Vilnius’ Palace at the 16th century , that this ancient edifice’s Bishops now houses the president and chancellery. It gained its current Russian empire style early in the 19th century, and has been used both by Napoleon (during his advance on Moscow) and his Russian adversary, General Mikhail Kutuzov (chasing him back to Paris). Watch the changing of the guard every day at 6pm, and also the flag-hoisting ceremony on Sunday at that time. Visits by guided tour (in Lithuanian, plus English in summer) has to be reserved in advance.

St Michael the Archangel Church

This expansive chuch, assembled by the Sapiega family, today houses a wonderful museum of art. The building itself, with alabaster statuary, coloured-marble high altar and its Gothic nave, can be an uncommon instance of structure in Vilnius. The exhibition includes religious art, liturgical boats and manuscripts, and a monstrance and reliquaries from Vilnius Cathedral.

Three Crosses

Crosses were erected in the 17th century, in memory of a set of monks martyred by pagans. The recent crosses replace three bulldozed by the Soviets; the remains is seen below the group. Walk up the hill from T Kosciuskos gatvė, also enjoy fabulous views of town, especially good here at sunset.

Holocaust Exhibition

The’greenhouse’ exhibits the unvarnished truth behind the destruction of Lithuania’s community. The exhibits — heart-wrenching eye witness accounts, documents and mostly photographs — chart the 600-year record of Jews from Lithuania before WWII, when 90 percent of the country’s 200,000 Jews were murdered by Nazis and their collaborators. This profoundly troubling chapter of history is vital to understanding Vilnius. Many items on display were donated by survivors and victims’ families.

Kenessa

West of Jasinskio gatvė around the Neris River is the kenessa, a traditional Karaite (sect of all Turkic Jews) Victorian home, built in 1911. It’s one of three kenessas surviving in Lithuania.

Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit

The facade that is peachy provides an enthralling original impression but there’s a power atmosphere inside the chief Russian Orthodox church of Lithuania. The refuge was provided a dazzling make over at the 18th centurynote the iconostasis with jewel tones and golden filigree. At front of the altar lie that on the bodies of three 14th-century martyrs, Sts Anthony, both their feet churns out under shrouds, Ivan and Eustachius.

Museum of Applied Art

Even the Old Arsenal, built from the 16th century and restored in the 1980s, houses exhibits and a permanent collection showcasing 15 th – to 19thcentury Lithuanian holy art. After being hidden in the walls by soldiers in 1655, A number of pieces were discovered in Vilnius Cathedral in 1985. When these have been finally displayed into the planet, because of fear they’d be captured by the Soviets, the works, valued at $11 million, stayed a secret until 1998.

Choral Synagogue

Vilnius’ Jewish communities along with 100 synagogues gave the city the nickname’Jerusalem of the north’ before WWII. The Choral Synagogue is Vilnius’ sole surviving Jewish temple. The surface is also an intriguing blend of contemporary and oriental modern styles that are Romanesque; ring the buzzer to enter and view its vaulted interior and elaborate Torah ark.

Last Updated on December 8, 2019 by