Church of St. Anne

The Church of the Heart of Jesus is a significant monument of Baroque (finished in 1756). It is the only Roman Catholic church in Lithuania to be built along a Greek Orthodox cross designThe church has a large octagonal cupola (dome) and a very reach the elegant exterior. The interior is no less magnificent, although it was severely damaged during the Soviet timeAfter 1945, a prison was established in the church and convent buildings. The church interior and the plan of the convent buildings were transformed. After 1990, the sacral buildings are returned to their former ownersAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

Šiltadaržio St. is ending at Bernardinų St.Art Printing House Culture Center with the Theater in the streetIn the streeet, there is a Toy Museum and other cultural atractionsAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

The museum is located in the north wing of the Old Arsenal and looks at Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age Lithuania followed by the various tribes that inhabited the area until they combined to form a state in the 13th centuryThe museum displays object found in burial sites, such as pins, amulets, rings, brooches, knives or necklaces. You can as well as see regional dressses of Lithuanian tribes before the formation of the state in the mid-13th century The museum shows a hoard of some 16.000 17th-century coins found in 1999 in Vilnius. It is believed that the hoard may have been hidden during the 1700-1721 Great Northen War. Nevertheless, it is the largest collection of old coins to be found in Lithuania All photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

The building in Vilnius Street in Vilnius No. 25 in which Jonas Basanavičius died in hospital on February 16th, 1927. The day of his death coincided with the anniversary of the Independence Act in 1918A memorial plaque on the building informs that in this building in 1909 the Editorial Board of the oldest Lithuanian newspaper "Lithuanian News" started to work Another memorial plague on the building as this building housed a music school, where the famous violinist Jascha Heifetz studied in 1905-1909 All photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2022

The family of the noblemen Chodkiewicz bought a house that stood on this site, and transformed it into a Renaissance residenceGrand Hall of the Vilnius Picture Gallery in former Chodkiewicz PalaceThe Classicist interior of the palace is a notable feature of the building of former Chodkiewicz Palace, today the Vilnius Picture GalleryAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

At the egde of Vingio Park, stands a Classical chapel built by Governor Nikolai Repnin for his wife in 1799-1800Behind the chapel, one can find the restored graves of the German, Russian, Polish, Turkish and Austro-Hungarian soldiers killed in both world wars A monument to the soldiers of the Central Powers killed in WWI in Vingio ParkAll 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

Upper Caste's Gediminas Tower (14th century) with the Royal Palace of Lithuania (the Palace of Grand Dukes of Lithuania, 16th century). Today, it houses a museum and an observation deck from which it can be seen a beautiful panorama of the city from the 75 m. high perchThe museum exposition features plans of castlereconstruction as well as armamentsGediminas Tower with the Lithuanian tricolor flag became a symbol of Lithuania. Gediminas Tower is a Western tower of the Higher Castle of Vilnius with an octagonal plan, stone foundations, and mainly brick walls built in the Gothic mannerAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2018

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

A building of Jewish Center of Culture and Information in the area of the Large Jewish Ghetto in 1941-1943. In this house a famous Vilnius resident Dr. Tzemach Shabad livedTzemach Shabad (1864-1935) was not only a good doctor, but a societal and community figure, and humanist as well. A monument (in 2007 erected) to him on the territory of WWII Large Jewish GhettoA plaque of a plan of the Jewish Ghetto in 1941-1943. There were Small and Large Jewish Ghettos existing from September 6th, 1941 to September 23rd, 1943. Today, September 23rd is the National Memorial Day for the Holocaust/Genocide of the Lithuanian Jews All photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2019

The silver cofin of St. Casimir is under a plaster canopy accompanied by relics. Under the cofin is a miraculous painting in a silver frame, with a silver statue with the saint's attributes placed on the cofin. The relief features a very rare depiction of a smiling Blessed Virgin Mary with Baby JesusIn the chapel there are eight silver-plated wooden Baroque statues of the Kings and Grand Dukes of Poland and Lithuania from the Gediminid and Jagiellon dynasties from the 17th centuryThree-Handed Image of St. Casimir c. 1520. This painting is considered to be miraculous. In 1743 the painting was put into a silver, gold-plated framing. St. Casimir is holding lilies and a rosary, which are his symbolsAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

The architect Michail Prozorov designed the rectangular building with three-walled apse according to the requirements of Karaim liturgyThe oriental-style exterior has a protruding central part and the onion-shaped dome over it. The distinctive exterior of the building emphasises its unique purposeIn 1949, the Kenessa, along with many other sacral buildings, was nationalized and closed down. In 1988, it was returned to the Karaim community. In 1993, it was re-consecrated and has remained open sinceAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

All photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic

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

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

Simonas Daukantas was one of the first authors to start forming the concept of an ethnic Lithuanian nation and its cultural history. The first book on the history of Lithuania "The Deeds of Ancient Lithuanians and Samogitians" was written by Simonas Daukantas (1793-1864) in 1822 while he was still studying at Vilnius UniversityThe larger part of the premises in this courtyard belongs to the Faculty of Philology. The Institute of Foreign Languages is located here too"Domus Philologiae" with the lobby of Muses on the first floor of the east wing is decorated by a fresco created by Rimtautas Gibavičius in 1969All photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2018

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

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

End of Stiklų St. on the intersection with Dominikonų St. and Šv. Ignoto St. in the Old Town in VilniusIn Stiklų St. No. 4 stands a typical building with a so-called Courtyard of the Printing House. Its history goes back to the 15th century. In the 16th century it held the Mamonichi printing house. A Gothic building in the courtyard with the exterior and fragments of the interior was reconstructed in 1974. In front of it a sculpture of "The Chronicler" is erected in 1973Wall (right) of the former Russian Orthodox church in Stiklų St. No. 17All photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

The Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences was established in 1941 together with the Academy of Sciences, in the building of the former State Wróblewski LibraryBetween two world wars, State Wróblewski Library was one of the largest libraries in Vilnius. It was founded by lower Tadeusz Wróblewski. In 1941, the new Library inherited from it some 163.000 volumes, more than 35.000 manuscripts, large collections of numismatics, cartography, and artworksAfter WWII, the Library was supplemented by extensive collections from other libraries. Today, its stocks count more than 3.77 mln itemsAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020