Vilnius

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania and one of my favorite cities in Europe. Above is Vilnius Cathedral; Lithuania was one of the last states in Europe to convert to Christianity (1387). It is a Roman Catholic Cathedral; 3/4ths of Lithuanians identify as Catholic.

Moses with horns

The Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania is located in the center of old town next to the Cathedral. In front is a statue of Gediminas, who in the 14th century united the Baltic Lithuanian tribes to fight off German crusader and Rus threats. He and Vytautas, a ruler in the 14th and 15th centuries, were the Grand Duchy of Lithuania's greatest leaders, and conquered a great deal of the modern Baltic states, Poland, Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine.

The Palace has been completely rebuilt. Lithuania merged with Poland in the 16th century, and then Poland was partitioned in the 18th century. Russia took over Vilnius and dismantled any nationalist structures in an attempt to assimilate Lithuanians into the Russian Empire. The new Palace was built over the ruins of the old palace.

Pagan oak rods

Tile found at the old palace site

As shown on this map, most of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania consisted of Rus lands, not ethnic Lithuanian lands.

What are those rabbits doing?

A tile with the crests of the Polish White Eagle, the Lithuanian knight, and the Swedish house of Vasa wheat in the center. The Jagiellonian dynasty that ruled the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth intermarried with many of the noble houses of Europe, including the Vasas, the Sforzas, Hapsburgs, Bathory, Muscovy, and others.

Gediminas Tower has the best views in Vilnius.

An old heater with historic dolls

The tapestry weavers of old did not know what tigers looked like.

Or ostriches.

The Radziwill family was a powerful Lithuanian family that often served as de-facto rulers of Lithuania when the Polish-Lithuanian capital was established in Polish lands, in Krakow. The 16th century document from the Holy Roman Emperor confers on the Radziwills the title of "princes and princesses."

The Lithuanians were skilled cannon makers. Pictured is Melussina, a 16th century cannon.

Shoe flair will come back in style some day.

Jan Matejko's Union of Lublin was on loan to the Palace. In 1569, Lithuania surrendered a large portion of its territory to Poland in order to merge with it to protect itself from the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Muscovite princes claimed to be the rulers of all Rus, which threatened Lithuania's extensive holdings of Rus lands.

The MO is Vilnius's modern art museum. It focused on Lithuania's transition from East to West in the 1990s and art inspired by that period.

Wise doggo

A dwarf guard stone for carriages

The Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights documents Nazi and Soviet terror in Lithuania. After World War 1, Vilnius was captured by the Poles, and the new Lithuanian state, free from Russia, moved its capital to Kaunas. During World War 2 the Soviets took Vilnius, then the Nazis, then the Soviets took it back. The Museum is located in the old KGB headquarters; the basement has their interrogation rooms, including this room filled with freezing water with a pedestal in the middle prisoners were forced to stand on for extended periods of time.

Lithuanians have great beer. Pictured on this can is Vytautas the Great in Matejko's The Battle of Grunwald.

Lokys was one excellent restaurant we ate at. It specialized in the historic food of Lithuania. We started with some deer jerky, pig ears, cheese balls, and toasted rye bread.

My entree was beaver stew with rye kvass.

The best restaurant we ate at was Ertlio Namas, which also served historic Lithuanian fare. For desert we were served Lithuanian mead with berry-snow ice cream and carrot cake.