The most important monuments in Lithuania include numerous wonderful architectural wonders which are considered modern as well as customary and these are a part of the Arabic style of architecture. Lithuania is adorned with historical monuments that not only allure the tourists but reflect the glorious past of the city, its times and past era. The historical monuments in Lithuania which attract the tourists round the year and have gleaming facts of the past describing Lithuania are mentioned below:
List of Monuments in Lithuania
1. City Gatekeeper Sculpture
The City Gatekeeper sculpture depicts one of the city’s nine historical gates located in the niche of Trakų and Pylimo Streets. From the beginning of the 20th century until the Second World War, St. Christopher’s sculpture was located here. Renowned sculptor Stanislovas Kuzma created this work when he was graduating from the Art Institute (now Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts). The sculpture was used as a decorative detail of the building and simply named Knight at the time when the 650th anniversary of the founding of Vilnius was approaching. Initially, the sculpture was made of wood, and due to ideological censorship, there were no Gediminas pillars. The statue was made of copper and was then supplemented by Gediminas’ pillars later when Lithuania regained its independence. In the Middle Ages, Vilnius was surrounded by a wall built in 1503 by the townspeople to protect against impending Tartar attacks. This most popular monument in Lithuania is also known as one of Vilnius’ talking sculptures. This is evident from the blue table attached to the sculpture’s pedestal, inviting you to listen to the sculpture. Choose one of the two alternatives listed in the table on your smartphone: scan the QR code or type in the specified URL. Arūnas Sakalauskas serves as the voice of the sculpture.
Address: Trakų 2 / Pylimo 24, Vilnius, Lithuania.
2. Gediminas Tower
In Vilnius, Gediminas Tower is the only remaining structure of what was once the city’s Upper Castle. Particularly by the Teutonic Order, all the castles suffered in a series of attacks in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the Upper Castle was one of three castles in Vilnius. Now, as part of the Vilnius Castle Museum Gediminas Tower is open to the public. Inside it houses models of what the castle once looked like and this popular monument in Lithuania has an observation deck from which you can get great views of the city’s UNESCO-listed historic quarter.
Address: Arsenalo g. 5, Vilnius 01143, Lithuania.
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3. Lithuanian National Museum
The Lithuanian National Museum is a combination or a series of museums, all these museums located within the areas where the city’s castles once stood. The city’s Old and New Arsenals are the two of the main exhibitions and the locations of this heritage monument in Lithuania which together house a series of exhibits chronicling the country’s history up to World War Two. The Old Arsenal has a medieval exhibit up to the thirteenth century and mainly focuses on prehistoric Lithuania through a vast archaeological collection. Meanwhile, with the establishment of the state of Lithuania, the New Arsenal picks up from the thirteenth century or up to the early twentieth century.
Address: Arsenalo g. 1, Vilnius 01143, Lithuania
4. The Paneriai Memorial Museum
The beautiful forest area around Paneriai was a very popular recreational area for residents of Vilnius and its surroundings before the Second World War. Red Army soldiers established a military base in Aukštieji Paneriai in 1940 and 1941. Within days of being captured by the Germans, this base became a place of execution. The shootings were supervised by the Nazis but mainly carried out by the Special Squad, which consisted of 60 to 100 Lithuanian nationalist partisans. More than 100,000 people were murdered at Paneriai between July 1941 and April 1944 and the majority were Jewish. However, communists, Russian, Poles, and Roma prisoners of war were also killed there. The museum was opened in 1960 at the mass murder site. After Lithuanian got freedom, on the initiative of the Jewish community, the first memorial stone with inscriptions in Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian and Lithuanian announced that 70,000 Jews were murdered here. The exhibition at this famous monument in Lithuania shows the orders, other documents and photographs of people murdered at Paneriai, issued by the occupying power and found in the area of the massacres, as well as prisoners’ work tools, clothing, and shoes. For the 50-year anniversary of the museum, parts of its exhibition were renovated in 2009.
Address: Agrastų g., Vilnius 02243, Lithuania.
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5. Vilnius Cathedral
Also known as the Cathedral of St Stanislaus and St Vladislav, Vilnius Cathedral is located in the UNESCO listed historic old town of Vilnius. Such as the coronations of several of Lithuania’s Grand Dukes, over the years, many events of national significance have taken place at Vilnius Cathedral. Including medieval ruler Vytautas the Great and Grand Duke Alexander Jogailaitis, country’s most famous and important figures (or parts of them) are also contained within Vilnius Cathedral. Many dating back to the sixteenth century, this religious monument in Lithuania also houses works of art. One of its oldest pieces is a fresco called “The Crucifixion”, which is believed to date back to the fourteenth century, making it the country’s oldest wall painting.
Address: Šventaragio g., Vilnius 01143, Lithuania.
6. Museum of Genocide Victims
Commonly known as the KGB Museum, the Museum of Genocide Victims is dedicated to the history of Lithuania under the Soviet rule between 1940-1941 and 1944-1991. It is particularly focused on the repressions against the Lithuanian people as its name suggests. Exhibitions at this iconic monument in Lithuania look at the activities of the Soviet secret service and the history of the Soviet occupation. There are also exhibitions on the armed and unarmed anti-Soviet resistance and those Lithuanian people who were sent to the Gulags and exiled to the remotest parts of the Soviet Union.
Address: Aukų g. 2A, Vilnius 01400, Lithuania.
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7. St Peter and St Paul Church
St Peter and St Paul Church was built in the later half of the seventeenth century in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius. Its founder, Hetman Mykolas Kazimieras Pacas built the church to mark the city’s liberation from Russia. This ancient monument in Lithuania is considered to be a fine example of Baroque architecture with its thousands of stucco figures and beautiful interior. The Church of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul is not only a masterpiece of architecture but also a historical testimony to the victory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania against the Muscovites and their subsequent expulsion from Vilnius following six years of occupation. Without a doubt, it is the most famous Baroque church in Vilnius. Its special interior is filled with about two thousand statues and according to legend, this place used to be a temple dedicated to the pagan goddess Milda. The church acquired its present appearance in 1676 and was later decorated with stucco mouldings and murals. The Rococo pulpit was built at the beginning of the 19th century.
Address: Antakalnio 1, Vilnius 10312.
8.The Saints Francis and Bernardine Church
Located next to St. Anne’s Church, Bernardine Church is also known as the Church of St. Francis and St. Bernard is a Roman Catholic church in the capital of Lithuania and it is dedicated to Saints Francis of Assisi and Bernardino of Siena. This old monument in Lithuania is an important example of Gothic architecture in Lithuania. Sometimes also referred to as Sv. Pranciskaus ir Bernardino(in Lithuanian), the Saints Francis and Bernardine Church is a late fifteenth-century church in the UNESCO-listed historic quarter of Vilnius. Today, Saints Francis and Bernardine Church is one of the country’s largest religious gothic structures that is grouped with the neighbouring Church of St Anne for tourist purposes, with short and long route guided tours offered of these historic monuments in Lithuania.
Address: Maironio g. 10, Vilnius 01124 Lithuania.
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