Castle Hill (Vilnius)

Gediminas Hill Lift (Lithuanian: Keltuvas į Gedimino kalną) — an inclined lift in up the slope of the Gediminas Hill, Vilnius, Lithuania. Opened in 2003, it is used by visitors to reach the Upper Castle and Gediminas Tower.

Gediminas' Tower (Lithuanian: Gedimino pilies bokštas) is the remaining part of the Upper Castle on top of the Gediminas Hill in Vilnius, Lithuania.

The Vilnius Castle Complex (Lithuanian: Vilniaus pilių kompleksas or Vilniaus pilys) is a group of cultural, and historic structures on the left bank of the Neris River, near its confluence with the Vilnia River, in Vilnius, Lithuania. The buildings, which evolved between the 10th and 18th centuries, were one of Lithuania's major defensive structures.The complex consisted of three castles: the Upper, the Lower, and the Crooked (Lithuanian: Kreivoji pilis). The Crooked Castle was burned down by the Teutonic Knights in 1390 and was never rebuilt. The Vilnius Castles were attacked several times by the Teutonic Order after 1390, but they did not succeed in taking the entire complex. Its complete capture occurred for the first time during the 1655 Battle of Vilnius. Soon afterwards, the severely damaged castles lost their importance, and many buildings were abandoned. During the Tsarist annexation, several historic buildings were demolished; many more were damaged during the fortress construction in the 19th century.Today, the remaining Gediminas Tower is a major symbol of the city of Vilnius and of the nation itself. Annually, on 1 January, the Lithuanian tricolor is hoisted on Gediminas Tower to commemorate Flag Day. The complex is part of the National Museum of Lithuania, one of the largest museums in the country.

The Old Town of Vilnius (Lithuanian: Vilniaus senamiestis), one of the largest surviving medieval old towns in Northern Europe, has an area of 3.59 square kilometres (887 acres). It encompasses 74 quarters, with 70 streets and lanes numbering 1487 buildings with a total floor area of 1,497,000 square meters. It was founded by the Lithuanian Grand Duke and King of Poland Jogaila in 1387 on the Magdeburg rights the oldest part of the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, it had been developed over the course of many centuries, and has been shaped by the city's history and a constantly changing cultural influence. It is a place where some of Europe's greatest architectural styles—gothic, renaissance, baroque and neoclassical—stand side by side and complement each other. There are many Catholic, Lutheran and Orthodox churches, residential houses, cultural and architectural monuments, museums in the Old Town. Pilies Street is the Old Town's main artery and the hub of cafe and street market life. The main street of Vilnius, Gediminas Avenue, is partially located in the Old Town. The central squares in the Old Town are the Cathedral Square and the Town Hall Square. One of the most elaborate architectural complexes is the Vilnius University Architectural Ensemble, which occupies a large part of the Old Town and has 13 courtyards. It was selected to represent Lithuania in the Mini-Europe Park in Brussels. In 1994 the Vilnius Old Town was included as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (No. 541) in recognition of its universal value and originality. It has been recognised as one of the most beautiful cities of the Old Continent that also has the largest baroque Old Town in the whole of Eastern and Central Europe. The definition of "historic center" itself has a broader meaning than the Old Town, formerly encircled with defensive walls. It embraces the valuable historical suburbs of Vilnius, such as Užupis, which historically used to be outside the city boundaries. Therefore Užupis is often considered a part of the Old Town of Vilnius. 352 ha Vilnius Old Town (Senamiestis) as the UNESCO World Heritage Site should not be confused with one of 21 elderships (boroughs) of Vilnius – Senamiestis (the one with a slightly larger territory – 440 ha).

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 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.

The Vilnia (also Vilnelė; Belarusian: Вільня, Vilnia [ˈvʲilʲnʲa]; Polish: Wilejka, Wilenka) is a river in Belarus and Lithuania. Its source is near the village of Vindžiūnai, 5 km south of Šumskas, at the Belarus–Lithuania border. The Vilnia is 79.6 km long and its basin covers 624 sq. km. For 13 km, its flow marks the Belarus-Lithuania border, and the remaining 69 km are in Lithuania until it flows into the Neris River at Vilnius. Eventually, its waters, via the Neris draining into the Neman River, flow into the Baltic Sea. Its confluence with the Neris lies within the city of Vilnius, and the river's name was probably the source of the city's name.Springs along the Vilnia's length contribute to its flow. A series of wells accessing the river's groundwaters, drilled in the early 20th century, remained a major source of potable water in the city into the late 20th century. The name of the river derives from the Lithuanian language word vilnis ("a surge") or vilnyti ("to surge"). Beneath it stands the Indo-European root wel-/wl- meaning "to roll", "to spin". Vilnelė, the diminutive form of the original hydronym Vilnia, came into popular use in Lithuanian and in Soviet times largely replaced the latter because of Polish language influence — Poles translated Lithuanian name of the river with such diminutive form (Wilenka). In an effort to restore the upstream migration of salmonids in the basin, a fish ladder was constructed on the Vilnia in 2000.

The National Museum of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos nacionalinis muziejus), established in 1952, is a state-sponsored historical museum that encompasses several significant structures and a wide collection of written materials and artifacts. It also organizes archeological digs in Lithuania.

Lopacinskiai Palace is a building in the Vilnius Old Town on Bernardinai street. Currently it is used as the hotel "Šekspyras".

Pilies Street (literally, "Castle Street"; Lithuanian: Pilies gatvė) is one of the main streets in the Old Town of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. It is a rather short street, running from Cathedral Square to the Town Hall Square.Pilies Street is a popular location for market traders to sell the wares of folk artists. It has a natural advantage over the Town Hall Square as the street is generally busy and less likely to be interrupted by the political or cultural events commonly held at the Town Hall. Souvenir shops offer amberware and amber jewelry as well as linen clothes. The street is also known for the Kaziukas Fair, when folk artists from all over Lithuania gather here to display and sell their latest merchandise. Festivals in Vilnius frequently take place on Pilies Street – most processions will make their way through here at some point. This is true whatever the festival – be it Christmas, Easter, the day of Restoration of Independence, or just a spontaneous celebration following a major win for the Lithuanian basketball team. The headquarters of Vilnius University are located between Pilies Street and University Street, (Lithuanian: Universiteto gatvė). The House of the Signatories where the Declaration of Independence was signed on February 16, 1918 is also located on this street.

The Józef Zawadzki printing shop was a family-owned printing shop operating in Vilnius (Vilna, Wilno) from 1805 to 1939. It was established by Józef Zawadzki who took over the failing printing press of Vilnius University established in 1575. It was one of the largest and most prominent printing presses in Vilnius. Until 1828, it had the exclusive rights to publish university publications. It published numerous books and periodicals in Polish (e.g. the first collection of poetry by Adam Mickiewicz), Latin, Lithuanian (e.g. works by bishop Motiejus Valančius). It suffered difficulties due to Russification policies that closed Vilnius University in 1832 and banned Lithuanian press in 1864, but recovered after the restrictions were lifted due to the Russian Revolution of 1905. After World War I, it had difficulty competing with the larger printing presses in Poland. The press was sold to a Lithuanian company Spindulys in 1939 and nationalized by the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1940. After World War II, the press was transferred to the communist daily Tiesa.

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.