I have learnt a lot about Vilnuis today, that the city was created in 1323, that it had a king for a short while and otherwise has been a dukedom, combined with Poland and part of the Soviet Union, although they do not seem at all fond of Russia! And eventually became an independent republic.
It has had a rich mix of cultures, German/Lutheran, Jewish, Polish and Lithuanean Catholics, Slavonic/Russian/Ukranian. It has been a country that has changed in shape and size and in its rulers, having suffered severely at the hands of the Russians. In the old town there are many gothic and neo classical buildings, but under Russian domination some buildings were destroyed as the streets were too narrow for their tanks!
There is every denomination of church you can imagine although we saw no mosques today. However it was known to be the last pagan country too. Under Russian rule some churches were destroyed and others reassigned to re educate the populace, particularly under Stalin. From my room this morning I could hear beautiful singing coming from the Russian orthodox church across the road, it was Sunday morning of course!
We began by walking around the market square and up to the Gates of Dawn.
We then visited an area of the city that is actually a separate republic and has it's own rather amusing constitution.
This was followed by a road trip to reach the Cathedral and Dukes ( of Lithuania) Palace where we spent some time seeing archaeological remains of the palace complex, works of art and history and finishing with views of the city from the tower, which was magnificent.
Excavated tiles in the dual palace.
Lithuanian tapestries, recovered and purchased by the government.
At times we had to cross the road between the marathon runners, which had caused parts of the city to be inaccessible today.
We then visited the Museum of liberation and freedom, formerly the Museum of Genocide, where we visited the deep dark complex of cells for interrogation and imprisonment which shockingly were used by the KGB until 1991 and by both Russians and Germans in different periods. I declined the invitation to visit the execution chamber. It had been depressing enough. Instead I read about the bishop who had withstood many punishments and deprivation to live til his 90s only to be eradicated by slow insidious poisoning, rather reminiscent of recent events in Salisbury.
We finished our tour at a Lithuanian restaurant where we had information and demonstrations, and sampled a typical meal of charcuterie, borsch, cepelinai, (a potatoes mix stuffed with minced pork and shaped like a zepelin, hence the name),and Apple and pear pie. I tried the gooseberry wine, dry and crisp, not too bad! It was a late lunch, so I had a swim on my return before a little saunter round Vilnius for the evening. No more food will be required!
I walked to the Cathedral and a couple of the churches and managed to get an internal peak at one of them.
I called at a bookshop and bought a couple of unusual notebooks, although the sales person could not tell me what the writing said- I presume, shopping list or don't forget! However I think I could translate this sign!
And what a pity this shop was closed!
I think the funniest thing I saw today was the three people clearing up after the marathon events. One had a blower, one had a broom and one had a bag, but there was no leader, so the rubbish got blown, the sweeper missed it and the bagman just stood around looking puzzled!
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