The Church of the Holy Trinity and Trinapolis in Vilnius

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

A plaque above the entrance to the courtyard of the house in which Mark Antokolski lived in the Old Town of VilniusThe inner courtyard of the house in which Mark Antokolski livedMark Antokolski returned to Vilnius every summer while studying at the Imperial Art Academy in St. Petersburg in the years 1862-1868All photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2019

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

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

A museum operates today in the House of Signatories, along with a memorial hall where the act of Lithuania's independence was signed on February 16th, 1918 when Lithuania was under the German occupation and administration during WWI (1915-1918)The first floor of the house with statues symbolizing agriculture and fishing is very decorative. Niches on the second floor hold two male bustsHaving acquired this house in the late 19th century, Karol Sztral reconstructed it according to architect Aleksei Polozov's project in the style of HistoricismAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2019

The church was built on the north side of the Lukiškių Square in 1624. However, the present building dates from the late 17th-18th cent.It is a single-nave Baroque church with cylindrical vaults. An image of the miraculous painting of the 18th century high altar occupies the niche above the porticoThe niches hold wooden 18th cent. statues of St. Hyacinth and St. Dominic. During the Soviet times there were designs to demolish the church but it did not ever happenAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2018

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

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

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

Choral Synagogue is the place of the only working synagogue and school "Tarahat Hakodesh" in Vilnius This synagogue is built in the Oriental Moorish style and is only survived one out of some 105 before WWII synagogues and other Judaic prayer housesThe exterior contains an inscription in Hebrew "A prayer house is sacred for all nations", and above the pediment the tablets with the Ten Divine Commandments are representedAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

After being baptized in 1251 into the Roman Catholicism in 1251, Grand Duke Mindaugas built the first cathedral in Vilnius on the site of the present-day Cathedral Basilica (Cathedral of St. Stanislaus and St. Vladislaus). Before that, in pagan times an altar, a sacred fire or even a Perkūnas sanctuary was located on the site of today's Cathedral Basilica The creation of the Lithuanian state started as late as the 13th century. Its first outstanding ruler Mindaugas was baptized in 1251 and crowned King of Lithuania on July 6th, 1253. Today, July 6th is a national holiday of Lithuanian statehood It is assumed that it was Mindaugas who built the first Cathedral in Vilnius. Traces of the original Cathedral incorporating Romanesque style features have been discovered in the vaults of the present Cathedral. After Mindaugas's death, the Christian (Roman Catholic) Cathedral was turned into a place of pagan worship. The author ...

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

The main altar with Late Baroque forms, made from dark woodInterior of Church of St. Francis and St. BernardineWhile restoring the church, one of the largest mural paintings from the Late Gothic and Renaissance periods was discovered. They depict scenes from the Bible, Franciscan legends and symbolic imagesAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

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

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 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

This building in Savičiaus Street in Vilnius Old Town acquired its present appearance in the 18th century with the 19th-century façade. Until the mid-19th century, the building was home to Vilnius governors and burgomasters In 1995, on the artist's 120th anniversary, a memorial culture center and the flat museum was opened in this house. The center and museum, today, hosts lectures on music, art, and philosophy, as well as chamber concertsM. K. Čiurlionis created 350 musical pieces and around 500 artworks. When he lived in this house, he created his most remarkable paintingsAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2019

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

A monument to dr. Jonas Basanavičius in Vilnius in front of the building of the Lithuanian National PhilharmonicDr. Jonas Basanavičius chaired the session of Lithuanian Council that adopted the Act of Independence of Lithuania on 1918-02-16. He was the first to sign the Act of the Proclamation of the Lithuanian IndependenceBalancing between Lithuanian and Polish interests, he refused to participate in the opening of the Polish Stefan Batory University (today Vilnius University)All photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

Of the two wings, only the east one is open to the public. It is used as a venue for art-exhibitions, usually for work by contemporary artistsThe east wing was given a tower in the mid-19th century. As viewing a show, visitors can admire its lavishly decorated rooms, with their elaborate woodwork and intricately painted walls and ceilingsThe most magnificent building is the eastern maintenance building, in which the interiors of the second half of the 18th century have been restoredAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2021