The Passenger ⋆ Page 139 of 308 ⋆ Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.

July 5, 2019July 24, 2019

Depressive

The occupation and freedom museum (Okupacijų ir laisvės kovų muziejus) in Vilnius, Lithuania can really bring you to a bad mood. It is a museum about repression and it is located at the original place where everything happened (and there are not many authentic places like this – another example is the House of Terror at Budapest, Hungary). The building was originally a court of law, but in 1940 the Soviet KGB moved in, in 1941 the German Gestapo took over and later in 1941 the KGB came back. Both used this place for torture, interrogations and executions of political enemies.

July 5, 2019July 24, 2019

Lithuanian national museum

The national museum of Lithuania at Vilnius was founded in 1855 and preserves a large collection of historical items and documents. If you want to see all parts of the collection you’ll have to visit different buildings – the main location is the new arsenal in the former lower castle not far away from the cathedral square. The presentation of items in the museum is a bit old-school but it’s worth a visit if you’re interested in history.

July 5, 2019July 25, 2019

Šv. apaštalų Petro ir Povilo

I didn’t know what to expect when taking the long walk to the St. Peter and Paul church a little bit aside of the city center of Vilnius, Lithuania. The high number of tourist busses in front of the church were a first indicator that something impressive is waiting inside. It is a catholic church in baroque style that contains a massive amount of white stucco inside. Take your time to discover all the beautiful artworks distributed throughout the church.

July 5, 2019July 23, 2019

Gediminas tower

The Gediminas tower or Gedimino pilies bokštas is the town’s landmark of Vilnius, Lithuania. It is a tower made of red bricks standing on a 142 meters high hill close to the river Neris. It is the only preserved tower of the castle built in 1323 by Gediminas the Grand Duke of Lithuana. You can take the Gediminas hill lift, visit the museum inside the tower and climb on top of it to enjoy good views.

July 5, 2019July 24, 2019

Cathedral square

The cathedral square is one of the most impressive public spaces in Vilnius, Lithuania. It is dominated by the Vilnius cathedral (Vilniaus Šv. vyskupo Stanislovo ir Šv. Vladislovo arkikatedra bazilika) in neoclassicistic style which was opened in 1801. The 52 meters high bell tower is standing separately next to the building – which is typical for churches in the Baltic area. It plays an important role in Lithuanian history as the Grand Dukes were crowned and important Lithuanian personalities are buried here.

July 4, 2019April 19, 2022

Užupio res publika

Užupis is a city quarter of Vilnius, Lithuania located in the east of the city center and surrounded by the river Vilnia (Užupis means ‘behind the river’). It was the place were the Jewish community was living that was extinguished during Holocaust. In the 1990s it became the place where many artists live and it was often compared to Montmartre at Paris, France.

July 4, 2019March 31, 2023

Guided tour

I usually try to omit travelling in groups – you never know whom you’ll have to spend the day with. But I learned that you can also miss a lot of fun. When I planned my trip through the Baltic states I booked a normal long-distance bus from Tallinn, Estonia to Rīga, Latvia. When planning the segment towards Vilnius, Lithuania I tried to find a railway connection but found an unexpected alternative.

July 4, 2019March 31, 2023

Kaunas

Kaunas is the second largest city of Lithuania with around 300.000 inhabitants and is located at the confluence of the two rivers Nemunas and Neris. A castle at this place was first mentioned in the year 1361. It later became an important center of Jewish life in the region. When in 1920 Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania became Polnish the city of Kaunas became provisory capital city until 1940.

July 4, 2019July 28, 2024

Memel

When arriving at Kaunas, Lithuania I had a look on my smartphone and the digital map suprised me: the river next to me which my local guide called Nemunas was labeled as river Memel. A name I had heard before. It is a 937 kilometers long stream that begins in Belorussia and runs via Lithuana into the Baltic sea. In a small section it forms the border between Lithuania and Belorussia – but before reaching the sea it also forms the border between Lithuania and the Kaliningrad Oblast belonging to Russia.

July 4, 2019July 22, 2019

Kryžių kalnas

The most famous place in rural Lithuana is the hill of crosses (Kryžių kalnas) near Šiauliai. It is a catholic place of pilgrimage that many tourists visit. Countless crosses are assembled on a ten meters high hill and you can walk on a wooden path between the more than 100.000 crosses – or buy one at the shop yourself and add it to the collection.