Vilnius Old Town Hall

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

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

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

In this street, it was used to be a market place where it meets Pilies street. The first Town Hall is also believed to have stood on this spot Pharmacy house in St. John St. No. 5. Georg Schulz's pharmacy operated in this house since 1639. During the war in 1655, the house was burned down. In 1781, pharmacist Koszyk acquired the ruined building and reconstructed it The Pac estate. Since 1628, the building belonged to the Pac magnate family of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1783, the dilapidated building was bought, renovated and decorated by the Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - Alexander Michael Sapieha. Currently, the building belongs to the Polish Embassy All 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

The Old Campus in the Old town - Rectorate building. On April 1st, 1579 the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Stephen Bathory issues a royal charter recognizing the Jesuit College into a universityThe Old Campus in the Old town - Rector's Office and former Astronomical Observatory building (right) and the Central Library building (left) with the Central Library Courtyard in front of the buildingsThe History Facutly building (left) and the Central Library building (right) with the arched gates to Mikalojus Dukša Courtyard (left) and Mathias Casimir Sarbievius Courtyard (forward). The Old Campus of the university has 13 courtyardsAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2018

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

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

It was built from 1633 to 1654 under the patronage of the Vice-Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Stephen Pac. Most probably the exterior was designed by Italian Constantino Tencalla. The exterior of the Church of St. Theresa is designed according to the models of Roman architecture: it is noble and harmonious, built along with the vertical principle with volutes and side obelisksThe St. Theresa Church (left) is located at Dawn St. nearby the Gate of Dawn (at the top) that is famous for its miraculous image of the Mother of Mercy (or Mary of Vilnius)The chapel is built by the Barefoot Carmelite monks for the miraculous picture of Mary of Vilnius in 1671. The St. Theresa Church was built with a large Barefoot Carmelite Monastery, established near Vilnius' defensive wall All 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

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 Augustines established themselves on this site in Vilnius Old Town after 1661. The monastery date from the late 18th centuryIn 1833-1842 the monastery housed the Vilnius Spiritual Academy. In 1859 it was converted into a Russian Orthodox Church of St. AndrewIn 1918 the church was returned to the Roman Catholics and renovated. After WWII the interior was destroyed during the installation of a ferroconcrete ceiling; the church was used as a warehouse in the Soviet timeAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2019

The architect of the Vilnius Bastion is unknown. The building that rose in the early 17th century is attributed to the period of late Renaissance and in that period Vilnius did not have a municipal architectThe wars of the mid-17th century and the 18th century weakened the military power of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The army led by the Russian Emperor Aleksey Mikhailovich approached Vilnius in August 1655 and seized the cityWhen Vilnius was liberated in 1660, the city's defensive fortifications needed repair. However, there was not enough funds and the citizens were unable to maintain defensive fortifications, supply them with arms and gunpowder and provide securityAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

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

Trakų St. finishes where it meets Pylimo St, which runs along the course of the old city wall. There used to be a gate here, which was pulled down together with the wall at the very beginning of the 19th century. In the niche of the Umiastowski estate (Trakų St. 2) there is a Statue of "The City Guard" (1973) In Trakų Street, there is the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption that was founded here by the noble Goštautas family in 1387, the same year as Lithuania became converted to Christianity. However, it is believed that the church with the monastery existed even earlierOne of courtyards of the buildings in Trakų StreetAll photos are copyrighted by Vladislav B. Sotirovic© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2020

One of the Latin inscriptions: "This house is that of Urania: be gone profane worries! Here the humble Earth is scorned: from here one rises to the stars"Here it was a Jesuit pharmacy. Medical herbs were grown in the courtyardThe buildings of the Observatory Courtyard are the oldest in the university ensembleAll 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

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

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

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