Pilies Street

The Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės valdovų rūmai Vilniaus žemutinėje pilyje; Polish: Zamek Dolny w Wilnie) is a palace in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was originally constructed in the 15th century for the rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the future Kings of Poland. The palace, located in the lower castle of Vilnius, evolved over the years and prospered during the 16th and mid-17th centuries. For four centuries the palace was the political, administrative and cultural centre of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was demolished in 1801. Work on a new palace started in 2002 on the site of the original building and it took 16 years to complete it in 2018. The palace was rebuilt in a Renaissance style. According to the testimony of one of the couriers of Bona Sforza such initial reconstruction from 1520 to 1530 cost 100,000 gold ducats and was ordered by Sigismund I the Old. It is believed that the reconstruction was made for the proclamation ceremonies of Sigismund II Augustus, the only son of Sigismund I the Old, as the Grand Duke of Lithuania.

Šventaragis' Valley is a valley at the confluence of Neris and Vilnia Rivers in Vilnius, Lithuania. According to a legend recorded in the Lithuanian Chronicles, it was where Lithuanian rulers were cremated before the Christianization of Lithuania in 1387. Maciej Stryjkowski further recorded that it was the location of a pagan temple dedicated to Perkūnas, the god of thunder. While the legends are generally dismissed as fiction by historians, they have been studied and analysed from the perspective of pre-Christian Lithuanian mythology by Vladimir Toporov, Gintaras Beresnevičius, Norbertas Vėlius, Vykintas Vaitkevičius, and others.

The Cathedral Square in Vilnius (Lithuanian: Katedros aikštė) is the main square of the Vilnius Old Town, right in front of the neo-classical Vilnius Cathedral. It is a key location in city's public life, situated as it is at the crossing of the city's main streets and reflecting the city's diversity. Regularly held at this site are fairs and gatherings of townspeople, military parades, religious and official public events, attractions and large concerts, New Year’s salutes and exhibitions. It is not merely the most lively and important location in the city, but is also one of the most significant and widely known symbols of Lithuania.

The Cathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Ladislaus of Vilnius (also known as Vilnius Cathedral; Lithuanian: Vilniaus Šv. Stanislovo ir Šv. Vladislovo arkikatedra bazilika; Polish: Bazylika archikatedralna św. Stanisława Biskupa i św. Władysława, historical: Kościół Katedralny św. Stanisława) is the main Catholic cathedral in Lithuania. It is situated in Vilnius Old Town, just off Cathedral Square. Dedicated to the Christian saints Stanislaus and Ladislaus, the church is the heart of Catholic spiritual life in Lithuania. The coronations of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania took place within its confines. Inside its crypts and catacombs are buried many famous people from Lithuanian and Polish history including Vytautas (1430), his wife Anna (1418), his brother Sigismund (Žygimantas) (1440), his cousin Švitrigaila (1452), Saint Casimir (1484), Alexander Jagiellon (1506), and two wives of Sigismund II Augustus: Elisabeth of Austria (1545) and Barbara Radziwiłł (1551). The heart of the Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania Władysław IV Vasa was buried there upon his death, although the rest of his body is buried at the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków. Inside, there are more than forty works of art dating from the 16th through 19th centuries, including frescoes and paintings of various sizes. During the restoration of the cathedral, the altars of a presumed pagan temple and the original floor, laid during the reign of King Mindaugas, were uncovered. In addition, the remains of the cathedral built in 1387 were also located. A fresco dating from the end of the 14th century, the oldest known fresco in Lithuania, was found on the wall of one of the cathedral's underground chapels. During the Soviet occupation, the cathedral was converted into a warehouse. Masses were celebrated again starting in 1988, although the cathedral was still officially called The Gallery of Images at that time. In 1989, its status as a cathedral was restored.

The Cathedral School of Vilnius was a cathedral school attached to the Vilnius Cathedral. It is believed to be the earliest school in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. For about a hundred years it was the only Catholic school in Vilnius (possibly due to a royal privilege prohibiting establishment of other schools). The cathedral school was merged with Vilnius Academy (now Vilnius University), established by the Jesuits in 1570. The exact date of its establishment is unknown, but it must be sometime between the Christianization of Lithuania in 1386 and school's first mention in written sources on 9 May 1397. It was initially a primary school, evolving into a secondary school by the first half of the 15th century. Most likely the school taught trivium and quadrivium and catered to church needs educating lower clergy. Its first pupils were indigenous Christians that also knew the Lithuanian language. In 1522, Bishop John expanded the school to three classes and introduced courses in rhetoric, dialectics, classical literature, arithmetic, music. The students studied Distichs of Cato and Ars grammatica by Aelius Donatus. In 1539, the school had twelve boys who sang in a church choir and twenty boys who served as altar boys. During its existence, the school prepared over 100 students who later pursued academic careers at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków.

The Church of St. Johns, St. John the Baptist and St. John the Apostle and Evangelist (Lithuanian: Vilniaus Šv. Jono Krikštytojo ir Šv. Jono apaštalo ir evangelisto bažnyčia) is located at the Old Town of Vilnius, Lithuania and dominates the university (Vilnius University) ensemble. Since the times of the Jesuit Academy professors and students used to pray here, and Vilnius theologians gave sermons. It was a place for performances and disputes, where theses were defended and kings greeted.

Vilnius University Library or VU Library (also VUL) is the oldest and one of the largest academic libraries of Lithuania. It was founded in 1570 by the Jesuits and as such is nine years older than Vilnius University. VU Library holds 5.4 million documents on shelves measuring 166 kilometres (103 mi) in length. The holdings, accessible to members of the university and wider public, include some of the oldest manuscripts, incunabula and engravings in Lithuania and Eastern Europe. At present the library has 36 thousand users. Vilnius University Library consists of the Central Library which is situated near the Presidential Palace, the Scholarly Communication and Information Centre in Saulėtekis and libraries of faculties and centres that are scattered all around the city.

The Museum of Antiquities (Lithuanian: Senienų muziejus, Polish: Muzeum Starożytności) in Vilnius (Vilna, Wilno) was a museum of archaeology and history established by Count Eustachy Tyszkiewicz in 1855 at the premises of the closed Vilnius University. It was the first public museum in the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania and is considered a predecessor of the National Museum of Lithuania even though only a handful of items from the Museum of Antiquities ended up at the National Museum. Together with the Archaeological Commission which functioned as a de facto learned society, the museum was the most prominent cultural and scientific institution in all of Lithuania and displayed many historical items that reminded of the old Grand Duchy and served romantic nationalism of Lithuanian nobles at the time when Lithuania was part of the Russian Empire. The museum collections rapidly grew to over 67,000 items in 1865 by absorbing large collections of minerals and zoological specimens from the closed Vilnius University, libraries of various closed Catholic churches and monasteries, and various donations from local nobles. The museum was nationalized and reorganized after the failed Uprising of 1863, removing almost all items related to the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to the Rumyantsev Museum in Moscow. The museum became a division of the newly established Vilnius Public Library. The reformed library and museum served to support the official Russification policies and displayed many items related to the Russian Empire and the Eastern Orthodox Church. After losing the last significant cultural center that supported the culture of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius was becoming a Russian provincial city and losing its leading role in Polish–Lithuanian cultural life. The museum continued to operate until World War I when its most significant holdings were evacuated to the Rumyantsev Museum. The handful of items that remained in Vilnius and were not lost during the wars are held by various museums, including the National Museum of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Art Museum, and the Geology and Zoology Museums of Vilnius University.

The House of the Signatories (Lithuanian: Signatarų namai, previously known as Sztral's House) is a Lithuanian historic landmark on Pilies Street, Vilnius, where on February 16, 1918, the Act of Independence of Lithuania was signed by twenty members of the Council of Lithuania.

Łopacińskis (Sulistrowskis) Palace (Lithuanian: Lopacinskių (Sulistrovskių) rūmai, Polish: Pałac Łopacińskich (Sulistrowskich)) is a building in Vilnius Old Town, Skapo st (Skapo st. 4). Currently it is owned by the State Language Inspectorate and Vilnius Archdiocese Economy Council.

Literatų Street (literally: Literati Street; Lithuanian: Literatų gatvė) is one of streets in the Old Town of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. It is a short narrow street mostly known for public display of decorative and artistic plaques dedicated to writers who have lived and worked in Vilnius or otherwise have shared a connection with Vilnius and Lithuania. The artwork was first added in 2009 when Vilnius was designated as the European Capital of Culture and has grown to some 200 plaques.Its name originates from the many printing houses and bookstores which were located in the street or from the fact that prominent poet Adam Mickiewicz briefly lived there in 1823.

Kardynalia Palace is a no-longer-existing palace in Vilnius, located at the corner of Pilies and St. John's Streets, right next to the university Church of St. Johns. The palace was constructed between the 16th and 17th centuries for the Radziwiłł family. One of its owners at the time was Cardinal and Bishop of Vilnius Jerzy Radziwiłł, from whom the palace derived its name. The palace remained in the possession of the Radziwiłłs for about 300 years, and in the 19th century, it became a government building. Damaged in 1944, it was not rebuilt after World War II, and in 1956, the palace's remnants were demolished to make way for residential buildings.