Vilnius

Vilnius night views

Vilnius (Wilno in Polish, ווילנע in Yiddish, Вильна in Russian) is a 574,147 inhabitants city and capital of Lithuania (part of the ethnographic region of Dzūkija). This city is the most populated in Lithuania and the 2nd in the Baltic countries. Before WW2 it had one of the largest Jewish populations in Europe and was part of Poland. Its Old Town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1994) and its nickname is Jerusalem of the North. In 2009, Vilnius was the European Capital of Culture.

How do I arrive to Vilnius?

  Vilnius is the most important city in Lithuania so there are many way to arrive there from all over the country and the neighbour ones. 

• Plane: there are many international flights to Vilnius International Airport. To go from the airport to the city, there are buses, trains (each 30 minutes) and taxis. It's just 5 km south from the center of the city.
• Train: there are train routes from Vilnius to all over the country, but not to other Baltic capitals (Riga or Tallinn).
• Bus: from Vilnius Bus Station has frequent connections with all the cities of Lithuania. As an important city it has connections with other countries like Riga (3 bus, aprox. 4.5 hours) or Tallinn (3 buses, aprox. 10 hours). There 6 daily buses to Kernavė from Vilnius.
• Car: in case you rent a car from Vilnius you can reach Trakai (aprox. 30 minutes), Kernavė (aprox. 40 minutes), Kaunas (aprox. 1 hour 20 minutes), Druskininkai and Panevėžys (aprox. 1 hour 40 minutes), Šiauliai (aprox. 2.5 hours) and even Klaipėda (aprox. 3 hours 15 minutes). Vilnius can also be reached from places outside Lithuania like Daugavpils (aprox. 2 hours 40 minutes) and Riga (aprox. 4 hours) in Latvia, Lida (aprox. 1 hour 45 minutes) and Minsk (aprox. 2.5 hours) in Belarus, Augustow (aprox. 2 hours 50 minutes) or Bialystok (aprox. 4 hours) in Poland or Kaliningrad (aprox. 4 hours 45 minutes) in Russia.

Once in Vilnius the best ways of moving in the city are using public transport. In the old city bike or just walking are the best ways to move, because the streets in here are usually pedestrian streets. Bus service goes from 5:30 am to 24 pm and their prize is 1€ (buying them to the driver), but there are city cards which reduce what you pay. Minibuses costs around 1€ and they stop wherever you want. Night buses around the cuty are also available.

History

The area between Vilna and Neris Rivers was already inhabited during a lot of time. In 1361 Vilnius was first mentioned 1323 by the Grand Duke Gediminas and later, after Trakai, it became the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the residence of the Grand Duke. After the Lithuanian Civil War (1389-1392) Jogaila (and later Władysław II Jagiełło) granted Magdeburg rights in 1387. In the 16th century the city grew thanks to the establishment of Vilnius University (1579) by Stefan Bathory, which developed as the most notable scientific centre of the Commonwealth. During this development many migrants came to Vilnius (Polish, German, Yiddish...) and each group made its unique contribution to the city. During the Russo-Polish War (1654–1667), Vilnius was occupied by Russia and in the Great Northern War it was looted by the Swedish army. After the Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Vilnius was annexed by the Russian Empire and then by Napoleon during the French invasion of Russia (1812), recovered by Russia then. During January Uprising (1863) there were revolts and after it, the civil liberties were withdrawn and Polish and Lithuanian were prohibited (though Lithuanian wasn't oftenly used). Accodring to a Russian census of 1897 the 40% of inhabitants of Vilnius were Jewish. After WW1 in Vilnius was sign the Act of Independence of Lithuania but with the Polish-Soviet War and the Lithuanian Wars of Independence it became part of Poland. During WW2 Vilnius was invaded by the Soviet Union (being the capital of the invaded Lithuanian SSR) and then many inhabitants were sent to gulags. During the German Operation Barbarossa (1941) they captured Vilnius and the 95% of the Jewish population murdered in Paneriai. When WW2 finished and the Allies won, the Soviet Union annexed again Vilnius (but the war changed its population, where Polish and Jewish almost disappeared). In 1991, when Lithuania recovered its independence, Vilnius was its capital. Vilnius has been rapidly transformed, and the town has emerged as a modern European city, with an important administrative and business district on the north side of the Neris river. Vilnius was selected as a 2009 European Capital of Culture, along with Linz (Austria).

Vilnius' top 10

If you have little or you just don't want to visit all Vilnius, here's a list of the 10 places you can't miss in Vilnius.

1. Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania.
2. Gediminas Castle Tower.
3. Vilnius Cathedral.
4. Aušros vartai.
5. St. Ono's Catholic Church.
6. Vilnius University.
7. Užupis.
8. Vilnius Picture Gallery.
9. Three Crosses Hill.
10. Vilnius TV Tower.

What can I visit in Vilnius?

Vilnius is an awesome city and has a very nice walk. There's a card that allows you to get into some monuments for free and get discounts (Vilnius City Card). Vilnius Old Town is the biggest in east Europe and is located around Katedros aikštė (which has an impressing Monument to Grand Duke Gediminas and a paving stone which is said to concede wishes) and Pilies gatvė; getting lost in the old city is a pleasure. There are very nice streets which have a nice walk, like Aušros Vartų gatvė (with the only remaining city gate), Literatai gatvė (decorated with litereature motives). The Jewish ghetto is located aroung Žydų gatvė and Gaono gatvė. The new city grew around Gedimino prospektas and it's a quite modern and green area, with places like Vingis park. Šnipiškės is a former Soviet area which now has many skyscrapers.

These are Vilnius' main attractions:

Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania

• Gediminas Castle Tower (10-21 Tue-Sat from Apr to Sep; 10-18 from Oct to Mar; 5€/ 2€  adults/ reduced): castle built in the 15th century by the Duke Vytautas, with 360° views from all over the city. It has a museum about its history and 16th and 17th century armours.
• Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania (10-18 Mon-Wed; 10-20 Thu-Sat; 10-18 Sun from Jun to Aug; 10-18 Tue-Sat; 10-16 Sun from Sep to May; 5€/2.50€  adults/ reduced): 17th century Baroque palace which was the political, administrative and cultural center of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until it was demolished in 1801. It was recently rebuilt and has amazing historic rests and shows the history of Lithuania.

  

  Vilnius Cathedral and Bell Tower

• Vilnius Cathedral (7-19): 18th century Classic-style cathedral in a place where formerly Perkūnas (thunder Lithuanian god) was worshipped. It was built in the 14th century with wooden but then it was rebuilt, adding the Chapel of St Casimir in the 17th century.The crypts of Vilnius Cathedral (10-17; 4.50€/ 2.50€  adults/ reduced) is where many Lithuanian rulers wered buried, like Vytautas the Great, and contain Lithuania’s oldest fresco. Next to it can be found the Vilnius Cathedral Bell Tower (10-19 Mon-Sat from May to Sep; 10-18 Mon-Sat from Oct to Apr; 4.50€/ 2.50€  adults/ reduced), which was part of the city defences in the 13th century and is one of the tallest buildings in Vilnius. There's a combined ticket for the crypsts, the bell tower and Church Heritage Museum (10€/ 5€  adults/ reduced).

  

  National Museum of Lithuania
  

  
  
• National Museum of Lithuania (10-18 Tue-Sun; 3€/ 1.50€  adults/ reduced): this museum is the largest depository of Lithuanian historical cultural heritage in the country, with traditional objects, funerary objects and numismatics ones. They go from the Neolithic to the 20th century.
• Museum of Applied Arts and Design (11-18 Thu-Sat; 11-16 Sun; 2€/ 1€  adults/ reduced): former arsenal which hosts some temporary expositions and sacred Lithuanian art exposition that goes from the 15th to the 19th century. Many pieces were found in the cathedral's walls. 
• House of Signatories (10-18 Tue-Sat; 4€/ 2€  adults/ reduced): house where the Declaration of Independence of Lithuania was signed in 1918 (which didn't last long in Vilnius because it was conquered by Poland in 1920). 

  

  Grand Courtyard from
  Vilnius University

• Vilnius University: oldest university in all the Baltic countries, founded in 1579 during the Catholic Reformation. The univeristy has 13 very nice courtyards. It has 2 books of The Simple Words of Catechism by Martynas Mažvydas, the oldest book in Lithuanian.
  
  • St. Jono Catholic Church (10-17): 18th century late Baroque church (but first built in the 14th century), with a nice bell tower and a Foucault's pendulum (device which demonstrates the Earth's rotation).
  • Grand Courtyard.
  • Observatory Courtyard: this courtyard has an observatory with 18th century fresco about the zodiac signs.

• 

  St. Ono Catholic Church

  St. Ono's Catholic Church (10:30-18:30 Tue-Sat, 9-19 Sun from May to Sep; 16:30-18:30 Tue-Fri, 10:30-18:30 Sat, 9-17 Sun from Oct to Apr; free): wonderful 15th century Gothic church done with red-bricks, considered one of the most interesting examples of Gothic architecture in Lithuania. It's spectacular and it's said that Napoleon wanted to take it to Paris.
• St. Pranciškaus Asyžiečio Catholic Church (7:30-19 Mon-Fri, 8:30-18 Sat-Sun; free): Bernardine church in Gothic style which also worked as defensive point. Despite having been modified some times since its construction, it's one of the most impressing churches in Vilnius. During the Soviet occupation it was handed in to the Art Academy.

• 

  Office of the President of
  the Republic of Lithuania

  Bernardine Park (sunrise-sunset): nice park near Vilnia River, between Gediminas Hill and the Bernadine Church.
• Office of the President of the Republic of Lithuania: 19th century Russian Imperial-style palace where the President of Lithuania lived. In the past it hosted Napoleon during the French invasion of Russia. Flag Replecement Ceremony is quite popular (Sun at 12). Guided visits can be done booking in advance.
• Dievo Gailestingumo Sanctuary: 18th century church which has an image of the apparitions of Jesus Christ to St. Faustina Kowalska. 

• 

  Paintings at Vilnius Picture Gallery

  A. Mickevicius Memorial Museum (10-17 Tue-Fri; 10-14 Sat-Sun; 1.50€/ 0.70€  adults/ reduced): house-museum where one of the main figures in the Polish Romanticism, the poet Adomas Mickevičius (Adam Bernard Mickiewicz in Polish), grew and studied before having to go exiliated. 
• Amber Museum-Gallery (10-19; free): small museum, placed in a 17th century Baroque house, with many amber objects and huge amber pieces with different colours.
• Vilnius Picture Gallery (11-18 Tue-Sat; 12-17 Sun; 2€/ 1€  adults/ reduced): gallery located in the Neoclassic Chodkevičiai Palace with paintings of Lithuanian artists between the 16th and 20th century. Some of the most important works of art are from the Vilnius Art School (18th-19th centuries). 
• M. K. Čiurlionis House (10-16 Mon-Fri; free): house were the artist and composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis lived.

  

  St. Dvasios Cerkvė Orthodox Church
• Kazys Varnelis House-Museum (booking on advance; 4€): museum which hosts the artist Kazys Varnelis (virtuoso of stained-glass and modern art) personal collection.
• St. Dvasios Cerkvė Russian Orthodox Church (10-17): 19th century church that is considered the main Russian Orthodox shrine in Lithuania. It was built in Baroque style and the interior has some details in Rococo style and on its crypt lies the remains of Sts. Anthony, John and Eustathios.
• The Old Crafts Workshop (11-19 Tue-Sun): small shop with expositions and shows about artesanal labour.
• St. Arkangelo Mykolo Catholic Church (6:30-9 and 17-20 Mon-Fri, 6:30-14:30 and 17-20 Sun from May to Sep; 6:30-13 and 15-18:30 Mon-Fri, 6:30-14:30 and 16-19:30 Sun from Oct to Apr; free): late Renaissance style church commissioned by Lew Sapieha (chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania) as a mausoleum for his family. Currently it's used as a sacred art museum.

  

  Aušros vartai

• Artillery bastion of Vilnius (10-18 Tue-Sun; 4€/ 2€  adults/ reduced): 17th century fortification with an arms and armour museum.
• St. Kazimiero Catholic Church (10-18:30 Tue-Sat, 8-18:30 Sun from Apr to Sep; 16-18:30 Tue-Sat, 8-14 Sun from Oct to Mar; free): 17th century church considered the oldest Baroque-style church built in Vilnius. 
• Aušros vartai (6-19): 18th century chapel built over the only Vilnius City gate that is preserved. It has a very famous painting Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy (which is said to make miracles occur) and it's a famous pilgrimage in east Europe.
• St. Teresės Catholic Church (7-12 and 16-19:15): Carmelites Baroque style church that has some examples of Baroque graves in the entrance.

• 

  St. Mikalojaus Catholic Church

  Bazilijonų Catholic Church: 16th century church with Baroque, Gothic and Byzantine styles used by the uniates (religious group that aims to join the Orthodox and Catholic religions). It used to be home Vilna icon of Theotokos Hodegetria (icon thought to be write by Luke the Evangelist) that disappeared during WW1.
• St. Mikalojaus Catholic Church (13-18:30 Tue-Sat, 7:30-15 Sun): oldest Gothic church in Vilnius, built by German Christians in 1320, when the region was still pagan.
• Contemporary Art Center (12-20 Tue-Sun; 3€/ 1.50€  adults/ reduced): biggest contemporary gallery in all the Baltic countries. It has an important fluxus artworks exhibition promoted by George Maciunas.



St. Nikolajaus Orthodox Church

• St. Nikolajaus Russian Orthodox Church: 19th century Neo-Byzantine style church thought to be one of the oldest Orthodox churches in Vilnius. Its origin is said to be around the 14th century although the church was destroyed several times and the current building was built after January Uprising.
• Vilnius Lutheran Church (11-14 Mon-Fri): Lutheran church built for the German population in 1555 which has a mixed of styles: Gothic, Baroque and Rococo.
• Šventosios Dvasios Catholic Church (15-19): late Dominican Baroque style church which dates back to Vytautas the Great period. It has a 18th century organ and Rococo style details.
• St. Kotrynos Catholic Church: 18th century church with two towers which was part of a Benedictine monastery. It was damaged during WW2.
• Mergelės Marijos ėmimo į dangų Church and Franciscan abbey (10-20): 15th century Franciscan church.
• Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Cinema Museum (10-18 Tue-Sat; 10-16 Sun; 2€/ 1.40€  adults/ reduced): museum about the last 300 years, about the Lithuanian and Soviet films and Lithuanian musical instruments (like the traditionals pūlsinė and kanklės).

  

  Antakalnis Cemetery
  

• Radvila Palace (11-18 Tue-Sat; 12-17 Sun; 2€/ 1€  adults/ reduced): 17th century late Renaissance palace built for the nobleman Janusz Radziwiłł. Nowadays it houses Old Master paintings by Ludovico Lipparini, Guisseppe Rossi, Antonio Bellucci, Carlo Dolci, Giovanni Paolo Panini and Bartholomeus Spranger as part of the Lithuanian Art Museum.
• Money Museum of the Bank of Lithuania (10-19 Tue-Fri, 11-18 Sat from Apr to Oct; 9-18 Tue-Fri, 10-17 Sat from Nov to Mar; free): interesting collection of coins and bills around the world placed at the site of Bank of Lithuania.
• Antakalnis Cemetery (9-sunset): relaxed cemetery with graves of Polish soldiers, the people who died in January the 13rd 1991 and Napoleonic soldiers.

  

  Three Crosses Hill
  

  
  
• Three Crosses Hill: monument conmemorating the Franciscan martyrs of Vilnius, 14 monks that were tortured during the period in which Vilnius was pagan. From here there's an impressing panorama of Vilnius.
• Sts. Petro ir Povilo Catholic Church (6-18:30): Baroque-style church, with a plain façade but with more than 2,000 stuccos done inside the church by Italian artists.
• Užupis area: this are is one of the most bizarre in Vilnius. The main sightseeing points are Constitution of the Republic of Užupis and Angel of Užupis (statue of an angel playing the trumpet).
• Dievo Motinos ikonos Orthodox Church: 20th Orthodox church with splendid Byzantine domes.

• 

  Užupis area

  Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights (10-18 Wed-Sat, 10-17 Sun; 4€/ 1€  adults/ reduced): museum located in the former KGB offices it talks about thousands of Lithuanians who were killed during the Soviet occupation and the ones who were deported to Siberia.
• Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (booking in advance): Soviet-style building which hosts the national Parliament.
• Sts. Konstantino ir Michailo Russian Orthodox Church: church built in 1913 to conmemorate the 300 years of Romanov dynasty access to the Russian throne. It was visited the day of its consecration by Grand-Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.
• Vilnius Kenessa:

  

  Museum of Occupations
  and Freedom Fights
  

  20th century Moorish style synagogue from 1922 used by Crimean Karaites.
• Black ceramics center (12-16 Mon-Fri): pottery workshop and museum about the old artensay of black ceramics.
• Holocaust Exposition (9-17 Mon-Thu; 10-16 Fri and Sun; 4€/ 2€  adults/ reduced): museum which shows the history around the litvaks (Lithuanian Jews), with photographies, documents or objects granted by the own Holocaust victims. There's a combined ticket for the Holocaust Exhibition and the Tolerance Center (5€).
• Tolerance Center (10-18 Mon-Thu; 10-16 Fri and Sun; 4€/ 2€  adults/ reduced): museum which shows culture and art from litvaks,

  

  Vilnius Choral Synagogue

  specially focused on the period before WW2. It also has a Lithuanian Jewish avant-garde exposition.
• Vilnius Choral Synagogue (10-14; 1€): Romanesque-Moorish style synagogue built in 1903 that is the only that survived WW2 (the city of VIlnius had around 100 synagoges before the war) and is still in use.
• Old Jewish Cemetery.
• Energy and Technology Museum (10-18:30 Tue-Sat; 4€/ 2€  adults/ reduced): first electric power plant in Vilnius which has a museum about energy,

  

  Vilnius TV Tower

  technology and its history.
• St. Arkangelo Rapolo Catholic Church: Baroque-style church built by the Jesuits.
• Vilnius TV Tower (11-21 Sun-Thu; 11-22 Fri-Sat; 9€ /6€ adults/reduced): tallest building in the country, tower where in 1991 12 Lithuanian independentists were killed by the Soviet army when they took control of the TV.
• St. Stepono Catholic Church: Renaissance-style church located in a warehouses yard which is nowadays abandoned and can be explored. 

Sculpture at Europos Parkas

Near Vilnius, 15 km west, can be found the municipality of Paneriai (Ponary in Polish, פאנאר in Yiddish), a Vilnius district where the Ponary massacre took place, a mass killing of as many as 100,000 people from Vilnius and nearby towns and villages during WW2, explained at Paneriai Museum (Tue-Fri 9-17 and 9-16 Sun from Jun to Sep; the rest of the year has to be booked in advance; free). 

Just 20 km can be found the geographical center of Europe (according to Jean-George Affholder's investigation in 1989 by the French Institut Géographique National), near the village of Girija. In that exact point there's a monument with the 27 EU flags. Not far is located Europos Parkas (10-sunset; 9€/ 7€  adults/ reduced). This park was created by Gintaras Karosas and has many contemporary works of art, like the biggest tv sets sculpture.

Kernavė archeological site

Continuing north, 40 km far from Vilnius, it can be found the small village of Kernavė, 272 inhabitants. In the village it can be visited the archeological site of the former capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, part of UNESCO World Heritage list (since 2014). Kernavė archeological site (10-18 Wed-Sun from Apr to Oct; 10-16 Tue-Sat from Nov to Mar; free) is an archaeological site made of hills that hide the rests of the last pagan nation in Europe, burnt during Lithuanian Civil War. Walking around the hills, discovering this site and enjoying the views of river Neris are some of the things that can be done here. In summer there are some archeological and medieval festivals and there are guided tours. To get more information the visitor can go Museum of the Archeological Site of Kernavė (10-18 Wed-Sun from Apr to Oct; 10-16 Tue-Sat from Nov to Mar; 2€/ 1€  adults/ students and kids) that shows the pre-history and Middle Age and objects found in the archeological site in Kernavė. Here it can also be visited St. Mergeles Marijos Skaplierines Church, a 1920 church built next to the rest of the church where Mindaugas was crowned. It's a popular destination for a daytrip from Vilnius.

What can I do in Vilnius?

 

Lithuanian National Ballet
and Opera House

Vilnius is the cultural center in Lithuania and its threater offer is quite big. There are many important threaters like State Small Theatre of Vilnius (threater which shows Classic playwrights plays and Lithuanian plays), Teatro Arena (multifunctional theater), Lithuanian Dramatic Threater (threater with national and international plays in Lithuanian), Lithuanian National Ballet and Opera House (impressing Soviet-style threater with operas and ballet plays), Lithuanian National Philamornic (threater dedicated to classical music) and Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (performing arts school which gives free spectacles). Another activity very nice here is taking the Funicular to Gediminas Hill (currently is out of use), funicular with awesome views from the old city.

What and where can I buy in Vilnius?

Gariūnai

Vilnius has some interesting markets like Gariūnai (near A1 road) or the food market Kalvarijų (Rinktinės gatvė 48B). Here in Vilnius you can find several malls, like Akropolis, Europa, Gedimino 9 or Marks & Spencer, where buying food, clothes... The main souvenirs in Vilnius are done of amber or linen. Among shops where things are done handcrafted these are some choices: the Amber Museum (Aušros Vartų gatvė 9), Lino ir Gintaro Studija, Aušros Vartų Meno Galerija (Aušros Vartų gatvė 17), Amatų Gildija (Pranciškonų gatvė 4) or Lino Namai (Vilniaus gatvė 12). Other interesting shops in the city are the bookshops like Humanitas, Littera (Universiteto gatvė 3) and Vaga (Gediminos prospektas 9). Another nice activity is exploring Vilnius Flowers Market (Jono Basanavičiaus gatvė 42).

Where can I eat in Vilnius?

Vilnius is the capital city of Lithuania and a big city so the gastronomic offer is very important. In low budget circunstances supermarkets (like Iki or Maxima), the shop Senamiesčio krautuvė (Literatų gatvė 5), Senoji Kibininė (Vilniaus gatvė 59), Pietausim (Jasinskio gatvė 16), the bakery Pilies Keplyklėlė (Pilies gatvė 19). For vegetarian and vegans these can be some nice offers: Radharanė (Gedimino prospektas 32) or Vegafe (Totorių gatvė 3). Among internationa food restaurants these are some: the French restuarant Balzac (Savičiaus gatvė 7) the Italian Fiorentino (Universiteto gatvė 4).  For a higher budget these are the suggestions: Lokys (Stiklių gatvė 10), Markus ir Ko (Antokolkio gatvė 11), Žuvinė (Didžioji gatvė 31).  The city has also a vast pubs and clubbing offer, with places like Bukowski (Visų Šventųjų gatvė 7), Jamaika (Visų Šventųjų gatvė 7), Būsi trečias (Totorių gatvė 18), King & Mouse (Trakų gatvė 2) or the disco Exit (J. Jasinskio g. 16A).

Posted in: Europe,Lithuania