Vilnius: The Women of Vilnius 2-Hour Private Tour

The Cathedral of St. Stanislav and St. Vladislav is the most important place of worship for Lithuania’s Catholics, and the venue for the country’s main Christian and national festivities. In 1922, the Cathedral was granted the title of ‘Basilica’, by Pope Pius XI.

From the 16th century it served as a residence for Vilnius bishops. In the 18th century, when Lithuania was occupied and annexed to the Russian Empire, the palace served as a residence for the Governor General of Vilnius. Russian Tsar Alexander I, French King Louis XVIII, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, and Polish Marshall and statesman Jozef Pilsudski visited the palace. In 1997, the building was renovated. Presently, the President of Lithuania and his Chancellery occupy the building, and leaders of other countries are received here. The flag of the President of Lithuania, which flies above the building, is lowered when the President leaves the country. Three national flags are hoisted in front of the building; two of them can be replaced by the flags of high foreign visitors.

One of the oldest universities in Central Europe, Vilnius University was founded in the 16th century while Europe – and of course Lithuania – was in the grips of the Protestant Reformation movement. Catholic monks, Jesuits, were called to stop the spread of the movement and were asked to take over education policy. In 1569 they established a college and just 10 years later, the University of Vilnius was born.

The Town Hall building was Gothic to begin with and changed with time. The Town Hall was reconstructed for the last time by the architect Laurynas Stuoka-Gucevičius at the end of the 18th century. During that reconstruction, the Town Hall turned into a Classical building. In the 19th century, the Town Hall was transformed into a city theatre where a famous personality – Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko – conducted the premier of his opera. Among all the Polish composers, only Frederic Chopin could be considered more prominent than Moniuszko.

The Church is a square basilica shape, with elements of Gothic, Baroque and Russian Byzantine styles. The first church on the site was built to mark the spot where three Lithuanian Christians martyrs Anthony, John and Eustace were martyred. Legend has it that in 1347 Grand Duke Algirdas’ wife Julijona built a wooden Orthodox Church in their honour.

In the 16th century the Church was funded by Constantin Ostrogishki as the Orthodox Church. Between 1608 and 1827 the Church belonged to the Uniates of the Basilian Order. Later the Church was given to the Orthodox Church and after independence it was returned to the Uniates.

The Gates of Dawn is one of the most visited shrines in Vilnius that is famous not only in Lithuania but also abroad, worshipped by the representatives of other creeds too. This is the only surviving gate of the first original five gates in the city wall that was built between 1503 and 1522.

The gates were first mentioned in 1514. At first the Gates of Dawn were called the Medininkai Gate, as it is on the road to Medininkai, in Polish Ostra Brama, the “Sharp Gate” because they were in the southern end of the city, which was called the Sharp.