Lithuania (8-10 March) - Day 3 - Vilnius

The next morning we had a short drive into Vilnius old town. We found a park fairly easily and marked our location on our maps. We then started our walk towards our first stop - the Vilnius Cathedral.

The street was lined with a large number of market stalls selling food, baskets and other handicrafts. Our first thought was that this was just part of the normal Sunday markets, but more on that later...

Sushki a traditional Lithuanian and Ukrainian sweet bread

Our first stop was the Vilnius Cathedral and Bell Tower. The Vilnius Cathedral is known by its full name: Cathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Ladislaus of Vilnius (Vilniaus Šv. Stanislovo ir Šv. Vladislovo arkikatedra bazilika).

It was consecrated in 1783 and has been the site of the coronations of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania as well as the burial site of St Casimir, Grand Duke Vytautas and the heart of Polish King (and Lithuanian Grand Duke) Władysław IV Vasa (the rest of him is buried in Wawel Cathedral in Krakow).

Next to the cathedral is the Bell Tower (which was sounding its bells when we arrived). The Cathedral square also houses a bronze statue of Grand Duke Gediminas (one of Lithuania's first rulers) - made from bronze confiscated at the country borders, and the 'Miracle Stone'. The stone marking the start location of the "Baltic Way", a human chain made in 1989 linking Vilnius with Riga and Tallinn (690km long), which marked the start of the liberation of the Baltic States from the USSR. It is believed that 1-2 million people formed the chain (not bad when the population of the three countries in 1989 was about 8 million combined).

'Stebuklas' (Miracle)

Sculptures on the town hall

Grand Duke Gediminas

From the town hall, we walked past the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania:

and to the base of the Gediminias Castle Tower. 

Directly in front of us was the Hill of Three Crosses (quite a few crosses less than the Hill of Crosses) (Kreivasis Kalnas).

A legend states that when Lithuania was a pagan country, seven Franciscan friars tried to convert the local Lithuanians and were beheaded on the hill (the known as Bald Hill - Plikasis kalnas). Wooden crosses were placed on the hill in the 17th century and were replaced as they rotted away. A concrete monument was built in 1916, but this was destroyed by the Soviets. It was rebuilt in 1989.

To our left was the castle. As I mentioned in the first section, this was the castle that Gediminias built after his dream of the iron wolf. The first castle was a wooden one, built in the 1300s. The first stone castle was built in 1409 by Grand Duke Vytautas.

The view from the tower hill was quite impressive:

Castle and funicular railway

View north

View west

Panorama south

South west to the Grand Duke Palace and Cathedral

View south

A stone memorializing the rebels who were killed in the 1863-1864 uprising who were executed in the main square and buried here.

Operating rules of the funicular - I had to laugh at the last one "It is prohibited to use the elevator when it is technically in bad order"

After finishing at the castle and headed to our next destination - The Church of St John the Baptist.

Just a quick aside here - Tomas made a comment that really made me think a little. When we went to the IX Fort the previous day, he asked if I was deliberately seeking out holocaust memorials. I wasn't, but it was just a sign of how widespread the horrors of the war and the holocaust actually were. There were very few sites in eastern Europe which did not feel the impact of those years. His next question was why we were going to so many churches if we weren't religious. Many of these old towns were built around their churches and the churches were often the biggest, oldest and most ornate of all the old buildings as they needed to strike awe into the viewer. As such most of the old towns could be navigated by heading from church to church and in doing so, seeing the history and ornate architecture of the times.

But enough of my rambling, the next stop was the Church of St Johns, St John the Baptist and St John the Apostle and Evangelist (Vilniaus Šv. Jono Krikštytojo ir Šv. Jono apaštalo ir evangelisto bažnyčia). I guess it is handy to be able to group all your Johns together.

This church was built in 1388 and reconstructed in the 1500 and 1600s. It was seriously damaged in the fires in 1737 and completely rebuilt. As per most churches in Lithuania, the Soviets closed the church during their occupation.

While I had originally only had a few churches on my list, we kept stumbling across more and more. Wikipedia lists at least 53 churches in the city, which is impressive in a city of only 500,000.

So, the next stop was the Orthodox Church of St Paraskeva (Vilniaus Šv. kankinės Paraskevės cerkvė), which is the oldest Eastern Orthodox church in Lithuania.

It was built in 1346 and destroyed by fire in 1557, rebuilt and then burnt down again in 1611. The Orthodox church probably took the hint, because the ruins of the church were given over to the Catholics. They managed to keep it from burning down again, and handed it back to the Orthodox Church in 1655.

The church burnt down again in 1748 and was rebuilt but remained closed until it was rebuilt in 1864. 

The bad luck continued, with the church being badly damaged in World War II and then closed by the Soviets after it had been repaired. For a while it housed a museum of Atheism, but it was re-consecrated in 1990 for the Orthodox Church. I'm surprised that they haven't banned smoking and open flames nearby...

From the oldest Orthodox Church, we headed to the oldest surviving church, Saint Nicholas Church (Mikalojaus bažnyčia). The church was built in the 1300s and when the Soviets closed the church, a statues was erected in the yard as a sign of resistance. The statue was St Christopher - and this was rebellious because the city's coat arm arms, which contained Saint Christopher, was banned.

We decided to take a quick break from churches to check out the Town Hall. The original town hall was created in 1432 but it went through many iterations before ending in the current design in 1799.

The break from churches did not last long, and we were soon at The Church of St Casimir (Šv. Kazimiero bažnyčia) and Jesuit House. It seems that most of the churches were 'oldest' in some category and this was no different, the church is the oldest baroque church in Vilnius - being built in 1618. The church also includes a Jesuit monastery:

As we headed towards our next major destination, The Gates of Dawn, we stopped at another interesting site, a gate named after Ignacy Domeyko.

Ignacy was born in 1802 and came to Vilnius to study. He was involved in secret political activism and was imprisoned. As punishment, he was banned from imperial service and put under police supervision. He spent the next six years farming, before returning to Vilnius after hearing of the November Uprising. He was involved in fighting for the uprising and narrowly avoided execution. After the war, he was a scientist.

Just outside the Gate of Dawn were two large churches - The Church of St Theresa (Šv. Teresės bažnyčia) and the Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit (Vilniaus Šv. Dvasios vienuolyno katedra).

The Church of Saint Theresa was built in 1650, and the Church of the Holy Spirt was built in 1567 and rebuilt in 1749 after (you guessed it....) a fire.

Church of St Theresa

Gates to the Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit

Just behind the Church of St Theresa is the Gate of Dawn (Aušros vartai). An important site of Catholic pilgramage, the gates are considered an important religious monument.

The gate was built in the early 1500s as part of the city walls. Ten gates were made in total, but only the Gate of Dawn remains. In order to protect the defenders, religious artifacts were stored in the gate, including a chapel which contains an image of the Virgin Mary, said to have healing powers and the destination of many pilgrimages.

The Icon of Virgin Mary

Having finished our main sightseeing, we decided to head back via Užupis. Similar to Christiania in Denmark, Užupis is an independent republic of artists. The name means "Across the River"

The area was original a Jewish district that was destroyed in the war, with its occupants killed in the holocaust. The abandoned area became a slum and filled with squatters, prostitutes and the homeless. before a group of artists reclaimed the area and in 1997 declared independent (likely jokingly, since Užupis day is the 1st of April and the statehood is not recognised by any governments). The area has its own constitution, flag and an army of 11 men.

The flag of Užupis is a blue circle with a white hand holding a blue circle:

The Užupis constitution is displayed on the walls in the city and is as follows:

1. Everyone has the right to live by the River Vilnelė, and the River Vilnelė has the right to flow by everyone.
2. Everyone has the right to hot water, heating in winter and a tiled roof.
3. Everyone has the right to die, but this is not an obligation.
4. Everyone has the right to make mistakes.
5. Everyone has the right to be unique.
6. Everyone has the right to love.
7. Everyone has the right not to be loved, but not necessarily.
8. Everyone has the right to be undistinguished and unknown.
9. Everyone has the right to idle.
10. Everyone has the right to love and take care of the cat.
11. Everyone has the right to look after the dog until one of them dies.
12. A dog has the right to be a dog.
13. A cat is not obliged to love its owner, but must help in time of need.
14. Sometimes everyone has the right to be unaware of their duties.
15. Everyone has the right to be in doubt, but this is not an obligation.
16. Everyone has the right to be happy.
17. Everyone has the right to be unhappy.
18. Everyone has the right to be silent.
19. Everyone has the right to have faith.
20. No one has the right to violence.
21. Everyone has the right to appreciate their unimportance. [In Lithuanian this reads Everyone has the right to realize his negligibility and magnificence.]
22. No one has the right to have a design on eternity.
23. Everyone has the right to understand.
24. Everyone has the right to understand nothing.
25. Everyone has the right to be of any nationality.
26. Everyone has the right to celebrate or not celebrate their birthday.
27. Everyone shall remember their name.
28. Everyone may share what they possess.
29. No one can share what they do not possess.
30. Everyone has the right to have brothers, sisters and parents.
31. Everyone may be independent.
32. Everyone is responsible for their freedom.
33. Everyone has the right to cry.
34. Everyone has the right to be misunderstood.
35. No one has the right to make another person guilty.
36. Everyone has the right to be individual.
37. Everyone has the right to have no rights.
38. Everyone has the right to not to be afraid.
39. Do not defeat.
40. Do not fight back.
41. Do not surrender.

The constitution in multiple languages

Angel of Užupis

As we were heading out of Užupis, we noticed something different. The streets which had been almost empty when we had arrived, were now teeming with people - shoulder to shoulder as they walked down the market stalls.

It turned out that today was the yearly Fair of St Casimir (Kaziuko mugė).  The fair has been held in Vilnius since the start of the 1600s and is held on the Sunday closest to the 4th of March (which is the Feast of St Casimir)

St Casimir (Casimir Jagiellon) was born in 1458 and was the Prince of Poland and Lithuania (which were combined at the time). He died at 25, likely of tuberculosis. He has been the Patron Saint of Lithuania and youth since the 1600s.

We managed to squeeze past the crowds to see our last churches - Church of St Anne (Šv. Onos bažnyčia) and the Bernardine Church (

St Anne's church as built in 1495 and the Bernardine Church (Church of St Francis and St Bernard) sits next to St Anne's and was built in the 1500s. The church was also part of the city defences.

St Anne's at the front and Bernardine at the back

We then fought our way through the market crowds and back to the car. Along the way we encountered the puppet St Casimir being paraded through the streets:

From there we reached our car, but the once empty carpark was now full and in many cases cars were double parked.  We managed to squeeze out and after a very tight push down a narrow road with cars parked on both sides and oncoming traffic, we were finally free.

Here's a few last shots of Vilnius before we moved on to our next stop, Trakai Castle:

Metalwork dragon for sale (only 2000 euro)

Our final stop before the airport was Trakai Island Castle (Trakų salos pilis), located on Lake Galvė, only about 30minutes from Vilnius. Construction of the castle was started in the 1300s by Kęstutis, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, and most was completed in 1409 by Grand Duke Vytautas the Great.

As with the other castles and forts in Lithuania, Trakai castle was attacked and severely damaged by the Teutonic Knights in 1377 and when the Teutonic Knights were defeated at the Battle of Grunwald the castle was deemed no longer important to the nation's defence and allowed to fall to ruin. It was rebuilt after World War II.

We bought an audio guide app which gave a lot of information about the castle and the area, but we didn't have time to get through all of the guide because we only had a few hours before we were due at the airport.

Driving into Trakai

The street just outside the castle

Bridge to the castle

The river was frozen

Trakai Castle

Kris lining up the perfect shot

After passing the ticket booth, we entered the Front Courtyard. The first piece of info from the audio guide let us know that there were three Trakai Castles in the middle ages - Old Trakai, Trakai Peninsula and this one, Trakai Island. All three were made of brick and surrounded by water.

The first castle was Old Trakai, which was 4km southeast of our location. Old Trakai become the capital of Lithuania. 

Later, it was decided that better protected castle was needed, so Trakai Island castle was built. The island that it is situated on is artificial, made by joining three smaller islands. The water levels were higher, meaning that the base of the walls touched the water - there was no exposed land outside the walls.

The corner towers were filled with cannon (15 in total in 1409). In 1410 the Battle of Gundwald was won and the castle lost its importance. Vytautas the Great moved his residence into the castle in 1409

Some of the treasures of the castle

The center of the castle was the main keep, leading into the Courtyard of the Duke's Palace and the Donjon (tallest tower):

The wooden stairs were added for tourists, the castle inhabitants used the spiral stone staircases to access the residential rooms around the sides. The Donjon housed the gate mechanism and a chapel.

The spiral stairwell

Where it lead to

We then moved inside the castle, to the Dutchess' Chambers. This area was mostly ruined and only the walls remain original

Bas-reliefs of the Lithuanian Rulers

The rulers above are (from left to right):

- Mindaugas, the only King of Lithuania who lived in the 1200s and unified the country

- Grand Duke Gediminas who extended the borders and founded Vilnius and Trakai.

- Next are Gediminas' two brothers, Algirdas and Kęstutis who ruled jointly after their fathers' death.

- Last is Vytautas the Great, creator of the castle and the most famous ruler of medieval Lithuania.

Items recovered from the castle

The next room was the Grand Duke's Chambers with a display of weaponry recovered from the castle.

Next we headed down an internal flight of stairs to the basement and treasury. There were eleven hordes of 14th-18th century coins found hidden around the castle ruins. These were usually buried in clay pots and buried to protect them.

During the 18th century it was common to mount old coins, particularly Roman ones,  on items like cups, flasks, belt buckles etc:

Next, we headed upstairs and across the courtyard to the Great Hall. The Great Hall occupies the entire first floor of the right wing of the castle at 200 square meters.

Heading back outside we found Cameron listening to the guide in one of the firing posts.

Model of the castle

Finishing up at the castle, we drove back to the Kaunas airport - arriving in time to catch our flight back to Copenhagen.

It was great to have a weekend getaway and a chance to visit a completely different part of the world.