Eastern and Central Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

50 NORTH EASTERN EUROPE

For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp68–9

Western tower, the Upper Castle’s lone surviving structure

the Ducal Palace where

the grand dukes of

Lithuania resided and

other buildings that

stood at the foot of

Castle Hill and survived

the sieges of the 14th

century are known as

Lower Castle. In the

1520s, the palace

was reno vated in

Renaissance style by

Italian architects invited

by Sigismund the Old

(r. 1506–48) and his

wife. Destroyed by

Russians in 1802, the

Ducal Palace is being

rebuilt to provide

Vilnius with a symbol

of past glories. Once

com pleted, the build-

ing will hold a museum devo-

ted to the courtly culture of

Lithuania’s grand dukes.

Cathedral Square^2
Katedros aikštė

Map D2 & D3. @ 10, 11, 33.

The paving stones around the
Cathedral Square show the
outline of the wall around the
Lower Castle, a defence that
made Vilnius a 14th-century
bastion against the crusades.
At the square’s western end
is the Vilnius Cathedral Belfry,
which was originally part of
the fortifications. There was
also a western gate where
Vilnius Cathedral stands today.
The square’s eastern end is
domi nated by a statue of the
city’s founder, Grand Duke
Gediminas. Unveiled in 1996,
it conveys his predilec tion for
diplomacy over force. In the
square’s centre is a tile marked
stebuklas (miracle), reputed to
be the point from where the
Baltic Way, the human chain
linking Vilnius, Rīga and
Tallinn in 1989, started. Locals
believe that turning around
on the tile three times makes
wishes come true.

platform at the top provides a
panorama of the spires and
rooftops of the Old Town to
the south. A funicular from
the courtyard of the Applied
Arts Museum offers a ride to
the Upper Castle.
The stone buildings of the
western tower were built in
1419, and restored in the
1950s. According to leg end,
while on a hunting trip, Grand
Duke Gediminas dreamed of
an iron wolf howl ing from the
hills in the park. This, his
pagan priest said, was a sign
that a fortress should be built
there. As a result, wooden
upper and lower castles and
another one on the adjacent
Vilnius Cathedral Belfry, Cathedral Square hill were built.

Applied Arts

Museum^5

Taikomosios dailės

muziejus

Arsenalo gatvė 3a. Map E2.

Tel (5) 262 8080. # 11am–6pm

Tue–Sat, 11am–4pm Sun. &

The 16th-century Old Arsenal

houses the Applied Arts

Museum, which hosts major

state-sponsored exhibitions on

topics relating mainly to the

history of Lithuania, the Grand

Duchy and sacred art.

One of the permanent

exhibitions in the museum

dis plays Lithuanian folk art

from the 17th to the 19th

Upper Castle^4

Aukštutinė pilis

Arsenalo 5. Map E2. Tel (5) 261

7453. @ 10, 11, 33. # 10am–5pm
      Tue–Sun. &

The oldest part of the Vilnius

Castle complex is the Upper

Castle built atop Gediminas

Hill. The western tower, the

only remaining part of this

com plex, which once included

defensive structures, is today

the symbol of indep endent

Lithuania. The viewing

Lower Castle^3
Žemutinės pilis

Katedros 3a. Map E2. Tel (5) 261

4063. @ 10, 11, 33. # call in
      advance for timings. 8 http://www.lvr.lt

Situated on the left bank of
Neris river, the Vilnius Castle
Complex consists of the Lower
and Upper Castles. Vilnius
Cathedral, the New Arsenal,