Vilnius Old Town Panoramic View

The Royal Palace at the foot of the Castle Hill was a residence of the Grand Duke of LithuaniaThe Lower Castle is related with the times of Sigismund the Old and Sigismund August, Qween Nona and Barbora Radvilaitė (16th century)In the 16th century the Royal Palace with its Inner Courtyard was an Italian-style palace with four wings and attics. The building around encircled the Inner Courtyard of 2,500 square metres and were connected to the eastern wall of the Cathedral Basilica by a roofed galleryAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2018

A semi-circular corridor of the Bastion of Vilnius, where cannons were lined up at embrasures, was called a casemate. A special platform with a parapet for heavy artillery was built on the terrace of the bastionA 48-m long, 2,8-m wide and 3,5 m high impressive tunnel leads from the tower to the underground casemate. Cannons brought to the tower would be rolled down this tunnelThe main part of the Bastion of Vilnius is the casemate. It is an underground horseshoe-shaped room for cannons. The casemate forms a semicircle around a 3-4 metre-high hill heightened with sand. From the outside the façade is 8 m high, and sloping, and is built from bricksAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

One of the focal touristic attractions in the Žvėrynas district of Vilnius is the traditional type of the wooden houses coloured in different coloursŽvėrynas means "menagerie" or "beastland". In the 19th century a forest grew in this areaSince 1893, the process of urbanization of the district of Žvėrynas started with the building of wooden and brick villas and summerhouses. Today, this district of Vilnius is a prestigiuos residential part of the capitalAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania is a national cultural institution open to all users, active in the areas of dissemination of information, culture, science, and education, performing library activities and ensuring implementation of the national information policy falling within its competence The mission of the library is to be the Lithuanian space of knowledge-creating value for the public The vision of the library: to become an integral part of the state's information policy, culture, education, science, and economic progressAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2019

The Bastion is comprised of a tower, cannon room and 48 m. the long corridor connecting it with the towerThe walls and moats of the Bastion were excavated in 1965-1970, and the canon room was renovated in 1985-1986 The entire Bastion is converted into a museum, and since 1987 it houses an exhibition of defensive fortifications and weaponryAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2019

The Górecki estate in Dominikonų St. 15 is a two-storey Gothic house. It was built on this site in the late 15th or early 16th century. In 1649 it was bought by Vilnius UniversityZawisha estate is known since late 16th or early 17th century. It was renovated in the late 18th century. The façade is strictly symmetrical, done in the style of early Classicism. Renaissance vaults have survivedDominikonų Street is dominated by the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit and the Dominican Monastery (1501)All photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

The garden reminiscent of a so-called secret garden (giardino segreto) could have been planned in the style of an Italian parkThe Renaissance Garden was located between the Royal Palace and the Upper Castle with the Tower of Gediminas. The stairs and other elements were designed by the Italian architect and sculptor Bernardino Zanobi da Gianottis. An Italian priest, Francesco, took care of the garden plantsEvidence of the history of the garden lies in the relics from various periods that survived in the cultural layers of the Lower Castle with the Renaissance Royal PalaceAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

The Galera Gallery in the Užupis Art Incubator also operates there, where exhibitions of various kinds of art are organizedGalera of Užupis is an Alternative art gallery. That is a place similar to the former Christiana district in Copenhagen in DenmarkThe Užupis district and its Art Incubator are separated from the Old Town in Vilnius on three sides by the River Vilnia, and by a high hill on the fourth sideAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

St. Lazarus' almshouse operated in this church, plague and famine victims were buried there. In 1715, the church and the monastery were given to the brethren of St. Rochus who tended to sick people, and in 1752 - to the sisters of MaryIn a cemetery at the church many outstanding people were buried, among others architect Laurynas Stuoka-Gucevičius. A memorial plaque to him is set up on the south façade of the church. However, later the cemetery was turned into a storage site of construction materialsThe church was severely damaged during a fire in 1794. The church was reconstructed and slightly transformed in 1801-1806. In 1864, the convent was closed down, and the buildings converted into a prisonAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

Originally, the Vilnius Lower Castle's jurisdictional court and administration was housed in this building during the 17th and 18th centuries. In the 18th century it was reconstructed into a weapons store-house and militarry baracks. Today, the museum holds the most important archaeological, historical, and ethnic cultural collections of Lithuania that cover Lithuania's history from the Stone Age to the present-day. In front of the building is a monument to King Mindaugas In 2003, a monument to King Mindaugas was erected in the square in front of the building of New Arsenal (today Lithuanian National Museum)In the 19th century, an entrance in the Classical style was biultAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2018

The church is Gothic, with some Baroque forms that it acquired in the late 18th centuryIn 1812 the church was partly destroyed by the French army that used it as a granary. Since 1864 the church was closed and converted into an archive The church adjoins a monastery, the oldest in Lithuania, whose construction began in Gediminas' times (in 1334)All photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2018

At the Church of the Holy Spirit, a Dominican monastery was established on St. Ignatius Street in 1501. In the 19th century, the buildings of the monastery were converted into a prison The entrance from St. Ignatius Street to the former old Jesuit Novitiate: arranged around three courtyards. It is the same age as the nearby Church of St. IgnatiusThe Church of St. Ignatius was erected from 1622 to 1647 being devastated by fires in 1748-1750. It suffered during the war against Russia from 1655 to 1661. The porch was added in the 19th century.All photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

The founder of the church was a Grand Hetman and Vilnius Voivode of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The 17th-century church's façade is modest, however the interior is richly ornate with a number of stucco mouldings The church was built to mark the liberation of Vilnius from Moscow (The 1655-1661 War) and the founder's own escape from the hands of rebellious soldiers. The interior was created by the Italians G. P. Perti and G. M. Galli, who decorated it with more than 2,000 stucco mouldings The chandelier was created in 1905 in Riga and represents the Biblical Noah's arkAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2018

According to legend, the monastery and wooden church were built circa 1332 in the burial spot of the Franciscan monks that had been martyred by Lithuanian pagansThe building complex is formed in the mid-18th century. Today, the church possess six Late Baroque-style altars, with the main altar having a picture of the Holy Virgin Mary that is considered to be miraculous. A copy of the picture is painted on the façade in 1742 The monument to famous Lithuanian neo-Classicist architect Laurinas Gucevičius, the founder of Vilnius neo-Classicism, is erected in 1994 in the square in front of the church.   All photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

The church is an elegant late Baroque monument built-in 1702-1730. It is made even more attractive by an asymmetrical monastery ensemble in 1713-1730The towers date from the mid-18th century. They end in rococo domes with lanterns Both the church and the monastery belonged to the Jesuit Order. The monastery was intended for the Jesuit monks with 10 years of service experience seeking to become professed Jesiuts, i.e., to make the last ceremonial vowes All photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2019

The entrance to the courtyard in which the Judenrat (Jewish Council) was located during WWII in the Large Jewish Ghetto in VilniusThe building of the Judenrat which functioned from September 1941 to September 1943 within the Large Jewish Ghetto that was formed around Rūdninkų SquareHebrew inscription above the windows on a former Jewish shopAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2019

Cathedral Basilica of St. Stanislaus and St. Vladislaus in Vilnius. Today the Cathedral Basilica is in the Classicist style as it was redisigned in 1783-1801 by Lithuanian architect Laurynas Gucevičius  Baroque-style Cathedral's St. Casimir's Chapel built in 1610-1632 for holding the remains of St. Casimir (declared in 1604 by Pope Clemens VIII as the saint Cathedral Basilica Bell Tower. It is rebuilt tower that was part of the defensive wall that encircled the Lower CastleSaveAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2018

Grand Duke Gediminas is considered as the founder of the city of Vilnius. The monument is located in front of the Royal Palace and Cathedral Basilica in the very downtown of VilniusGediminas was a diplomatic politician, creating ties with the Roman Pope and other European rulers. He created favourable conditions for merchants and guildsmen to come to the city. Gediminas was a Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1316 to 1341During the time of Gediminas, people of different ethnicities and confessions began to live in Vilnius. He is the founder of the Gediminian-Jagelonian ruling dynasty of Lithuania and later of Poland as well (till 1572)All photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2018

The Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund (1432-1440), who ruled briefly after the death of his brother Vytautas the Great (died in 1430), granted equal rights to the Russian Orthodox believers living in the capital-city of Vilnius - before long they came to constitute one half of the members of the city board and guild elders  In the Middle Ages Vilnius (today Old Town) was increasingly multy-national as it was the case with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as well. The city was, in fact, divided into four quarters according to the ethnic and religious belonging of its citizens: the German Quarter, the Russian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter, and the Tartar Quarter. Each of these city quarters had the main street named according to the ethnic belonging of their inhabitantsThe Russian Street in Old Town of Vilnius ends with the Russian Orthodox Cathedral (Sobor) of the Dormition of the Holy Mother ...

The church was named after St. Nicholas, who was the Bishop of Myra and the patron of travelers and merchants. The character of Santa Claus is thought to be based on this saintThe Church of St. Nicholas in Vilnius is the oldest surviving Late Gothic church in Lithuania. The small church was used by the Franciscan monks, who lived nearbyThe interior of the church is decorated with ornate rib and groin vaults. A 16th-century picture of St. Nicholas with a silver frame is located on the left altarAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2018