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Kaunas
Klaipeda
Nida
Palanga
Vilnius
Kaunas
4. june 2003
Kaunas is the second biggest city in Lithuania.
Kaunas lies on the crossroads of the main Lithuanian motorways. Two of them cross the city - Via Baltica, which connects Helsinki and Warsaw, and the highway that connects the capital Vilnius and the port Klaipeda. It is beautifully located at the confluence of two rivers - the Nemunas and the Neris. Kaunas is the second biggest city in Lithuania with the total area of 155.5 sq. km and a population of 433.000.There are not many cities in Eastern Europe that have such a beautiful surroundings as Kaunas. Here two great winding rivers "embrace each other"; seven deep valleys with steep ravines and high hills and banks of the rivers with lovely parks of oak-trees, lime-trees, birches and pines add immense charm to the city.
Kaunas Castle
Built in the 13th century, the castle was Lithuania's first defensive bastion and the only double-walled castle in all of Lithuania. The surrounding walls were initially over 2m wide and 13m high. In 1362, however, after a three-week long siege, the crusaders destroyed it. By 1368 a second, stronger castle had been constructed. The castle originally had four towers, but over the centuries the river Neris has washed the towers away and the northern walls have collapsed.
St. George's Church
The church is located near the castle ruins. It was built in 15th century in gratitude of the baptism of Kaunas inhabitants.
Town Hall
The building of the Town Hall is often called White Swan. The construction of the Town Hall began in 1542. It unites the architectural traits of Gothic, Baroque and early Classicism. The Town Hall was the heart of Kaunas in the Middle Ages, and the main market place was placed around it. After the last reconstruction of the building in 1970, the Town Hall became the Wedding Palace, and Ceramics Museum was established in its basement.
St Francis' Church and Jesuit Monastery
This late Baroque church was initially constructed in 1666, but it was damaged by fire many times over the centuries. In 1825, it was renamed the Alexander Nevski Church and Orthodox services were conducted here. After WWI, it was returned to the Jesuits, but they lost it again in 1962, when the Soviets made it a vocational school. It was given back to the believers only in 1990.
Maironis' Museum of Lithuanian Literature
The Museum was established in the apartment of an 18th century building, in which the poet and prelate, Jonas-Maciulis Maironis lived from 1090 to 1932. The exhibition consists of the private belongings of the poet: books, furniture, art pieces and souveniers.
St. Peter and Paul's Cathedral
Built in 1408, the Cathedral is interesting simply because it is the only Gothic church of Basilican design in the whole of Lithuania. Later construction work (in progress until the Russian-Swedish war (1655-1660)), added some forms of Renaissance and Baroque styles to this architectural masterpiece. Now the Cathedral has nine altars, the high altar in Baroque style was built in 1775. In 1895, the church became a cathedral, and was elevated to the rank a basilica in 1921. The tower is 41.9m high. Look for the tomb of the priest and writer Maironis in the south wall. The famous Lithuanian Bishop
St. Michael the Archangel Church
The blue, imposing Catholic church is commonly called soboras after the Russian word "sobor" (cathedral), since it has all the architectural aspects of an Orthodox church. Transformed into an art gallery during the Soviet period, it was reopened to public worship in 1991. Built in between 1891 and 1893 by Russian architects, the symmetrical neo-Byzantine building at the east end of Laisves aleja was originally destined for the army stationed at Kaunas Castle. It is a favorite place for weddings.
Pazaislis Monastery
It is one of the most beautiful samples in Baroque style in Lithuania. The ensemble, devoted to Camaldolli Abbey, was built in the 17th century under the supervision of Italian masters from Florence (Michelangelo Palloni, Joan Merli, and Pietro Perti).
The Open-Air Museum of Lithuania in Rumsiskes
The museum gives the impression of the main traits of life, architecture, and culture of the chief ethnographic regions of Lithuania. In fact, the most important exhibits are the buildings. In the course of decades many original old bulidings got dilapsidated or were simply destroyed. Nowadays you will hardly come across a well-preserved rural building dating back to the 19th century.At the museum the buildings are grouped in the same way as they are grouped in farmsteads. This is the most valuable heritage of the old countryside of Lithuania. The museum has more than one hundred buildings of this kind.
You can also take a boat to the open-air museum and admire the view of the picturesque banks of the Kaunas Lagoon.
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