Traditional Wooden Houses in Žvėrynas

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

Town Hall Square has been a market place since very early times, and it today dominated by the Town Hall which was formerly a court, with the basement being used as prison cellsThe Town Hall back-side. The present building was constructed between 1785 and 1799 by the Classical architect Lithuanian Laurynas Stuoka-Gucevičius The square in front of the Town Hall is the venue for an annual three-day crafts market on the weekend closest to March 4th, St. Casimir's DayAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

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

Polish King Jan Sobieski, Russian Emperor Alexander I and French Emperor Napoleon I visited the mansion on various occasions. The building was reconstructed in 1839-1841. The present façade is ClassicalA Florentine artist Michelangelo Palloni, was invited from Italy in 1674 to work at Pažaislis monastery and church near Kaunas, and Mykolas Kazimieras Pacas then commissioned him to paint frescoes for of this estate.Unfortunately, none of the original interior, which also included rich stucco work, remainsAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2022

Monument to the Gaon of Vilnius Elijah ben Solomon Zalman (1720-1797) called "Jewish Saga". The monument is located on the place where he lived. The house was destroyed during WWII and it was not restored. Nearby the monument there is a memorial plaque in Lithuanian and Hebrew on a building at Žydų (Jewish) Street Antokolski Street in Vilnius Old Town's Jewish Quarter. In this street the famous 19th century sculptor Mark Antokolski lived in 1843-1862. It was here he created his first sculptors depicting the inhabitants of his native quarter, which later gained recognitionMėsinių Street in Vilnius Old Town. That was one of the longest and most important street in the Jewish QuarterAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2019

The church was financed by Grand Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Grand Hetman, and Vilnius Voivode - Lew Sapieha, who had converted to Roman Catholicism from Calvinism. He was one of the most influential nobles in the Grand Duchy of LithuaniaLew Sapieha gave the church and surrounding buildings for the Bernardine nuns to have a convent and built a Sapieha family mausoleum in the churchThe convent was also a place where the daughters of rich aristocrats were taught. Today, the Church Heritage Museum operates in the churchAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2019

Church of St. Anne (left) and Bernardine Church (right). The church of St. Anne is a unique monument of red firebrick Gothic architecture in LithuaniaSt. Anne Church, designed in 1495-1500 by Benedikt Rejt, built up at the turn of the 15th century, and renovated in 1902-1909. 35 different kinds of brick were used help in creating the church. The façade was reinforced in 1960-1970St. Anne Church - a church which French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte wanted to put on his palm and carry it over to Paris. The Church of St. Anne is symmetrical, marked by graceful, pointed forms that continue upwardAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2018

One of the meeting rooms in the library for public lectures, book presentations and discussionsOne of the exibition hallsOne of the Reading RoomsAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

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

Alumnatas Courtyard was the location for the student dormitory of a pontifical seminary in which seminary students (alumni) and future Greek Catholic (Uniate) priests lived. The courtyard is located in the Monastery Quarter of Vilnius very close to the Old Campus of Vilnius University and Presidential Palace (Prezidentura). Alumnatas (the Greek Catholic/Uniate) Courtyard in probably the most impressive and beautiful courtyards in Old Town of VilniusIn the mid-17th century, the courtyard was remodelledin an Italian Renaissance style , along with a chapelLater the buldings around Alumnatas Courtyard passed to Vilnius UniversityAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2018

The life and work of Dr. Jurgis and Marija Šlapelis reflects the life of the region of Vilnius from the second half of the 19th century to 1940. Both of them have been cultural figures in Lithuania. Marija was actress. They published Lithuanian books that were banned at that timeDr. Jurgis and Marija Šlapelis owned the only Lithuanian language bookstore in Vilnius during 1906-1949. The Šlapelis family bought the house in 1926. Before, it was a goldsmith's workshops, and later housed a small holet called the Hotel de Philadelphie, and a wine shop The building is an example of the 17-th century architecture. Dr. Jurgis died in 1941, and Marija in 1977 at the age of 97. After WWII, the house was nationalised, and, therefore, Marija Šlapelis was forced to live in two small rooms upstairs, with the only access to them through another person's quarters. Marija stipulated in her ...

It was not until 1503 when Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Alexander Jagiellon granted a privilege that the construction of the wall began. The year 1522 is considered to mark the end of the construction, when Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund the Old exempted the residents of Vilnius from the duty of keeping guard at the castle and ordered 24 guards to be posted at the city gatesThe length of the defensive wall was 2,5 kilometres having 10 gates. The wall surrounded the territory of today's Old Town, approximatelly 100 hectars. The foundation of the defensive wall was built of stone, and bricks were mainly used at the level of loopholes and higher. The was was adapted for defence with gunpoweder-operated firearms Until the late-18th century, the Vilnius defensive wall was frequently renovated. The wall served for the last time in 1794 during the uprising led by ...

It was built by the Benedictine Sisters near their convent. It acquired its present-day appearance after a great fire in Vilnius in 1737. The church has a rich interior decorated with stucco mouldings and artificial marble. Today the church is restored and adapted for concerts. It also hosts the International Christopher Summer Music FestivalFlanking the church on Vilniaus Street, a particularly elegant Chapel of Providence was erected in 1641 and rebuilt in 1746The single-nave church has 9 magnificent Late Baroque altars and a pulpitAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2018

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

The Russian Orthodox Church of St. Parasceve (or Piatnickaya Church) is located in the centre of Vilnius' Old Town where a Russian Orthodox Church stood since the times of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Algirdas in the mid-14th centurySt. Parasceve Russian Orthodox Church is the oldest surviving Russian Orthodox Church in Lithuania located in the former Russian quarter of the Old TownThe church was reconstructed in the mid-19th century by the famous Russian architect N. ChaginAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2021

In this house, belonging at the time to a university professor, Adam Mickiewicz stayed for a short period in 1822 and completed the poem "Gražina"It is small museum of three rooms but it is currently being expended. Among the exhibits are several portraits of Adam Mickiewicz and some period furniture, including a table and chair from Kaunas and a chair from Paris that the poet himself usedThe exhibition includes among the many volumes of his work in foreign languages, for instance, a Persian translation of his "Sonnets from the Crimea" All photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

In 1986 the east winf of the Old Arsenal was restored. It houses the Museum of Applied Art and Design. The Old Arsenal enables the visitors to feel the ambience of the Renaissance Vilnius The building of the Old Arsenal was remodelled by Sigismund Augustus (second half of the 16th century) in the Renaissance style, mainly by adding a third floor (the attic), decorated in double arch niches. In was an enormous building, reputed to be the largest in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth  The Old Arsenal was badly damaged during the war with Russia in 1655-1661, and remained a virtual ruin until the late 18th century when in 1780 was rebuilt and burned down at the end of WWIIAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

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 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

The church is inconspicuous from the street, as its façade does not face the streetThe 51 meter-tall dome can be seen from seven Old Town streetsThe Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit is one of the most magnificent churches in Vilnius. It is an excellent monument of high and late Baroque  All photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2018