Explore Beautiful Antakalnis District Vilnius – Ultimate Vilnius Guide

Antakalnis Vilnius Travel Guide

Church of St Peter and St Paul - Antakalnis - Vilnius
Church of St Peter and St Paul – Antakalnis – Vilnius

One of Lithuania‘s most famous cultural monuments is in the Antakalnis district in Vilnius. The nobleman Michal Kazimieriz Pac began constructing the present-day Baroque sanctuary in the place of a former decaying wooden one in 1668. Interior decoration started in 1871 and lasted until 1704. Italian masters Pietro Perti and Giovanni Maria Galli were responsible for creating the stucco moldings and frescoes. The intricate decor expresses the might, endurance, and majesty of the Church.

Important Saints

The apostle Peter holds an important place, as do images of St. Augustine in his role as head of the Church. There are representations of personalities from various nations and social strata, mythical and allegorical figures, emblems, logos, seals, and symbols. The evangelical virtues of patience, humility, purity, and compassion are in the Chapel of the Blessed Virgins, to the left past the entrance.

Familiar statues include a skeleton with a scythe trampling the symbols of power, Christ Resurrected, and the figure of Mary Magdalene by the Chapel of St. Ursula (second on the right). An 18th-century statue of Jesus wearing a wig and a cloak of red cloth came from the Trinitarian Church in 1864 and is one of the sanctuary’s most revered attributes.

Address: Antakalnio g. 1, Vilnius

Vileisis Manor House Antakalnis (Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore)

Vileisis Manor House Antakalnis Vilnius
Vileisis Manor House Antakalnis Vilnius

Across the street from the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul is a building complex belonging to the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore. Once the home of businessman and philanthropist Petras Vileisis, they are interesting not only as an example of Historicist architecture with elements of Art Nouveau (1906, architect August Klein) but also as a monument of Lithuanian cultural history.

In 1907, the wing closest to the street held the first Lithuanian art exhibition, a precursor to the development of Lithuanian national art.

Address: Antakalnio str. 6

Antakalnis And Saules Cemeteries Antakalnis

Antakalnis Cemetery Vilnius
Antakalnis Cemetery Vilnius

L. Sapiegos Street, a small road branching off Antakalnio Street, leads to the old Saules and Antakalnio cemeteries. Established in 1809, Antakalnio Cemetery was originally intended only for soldiers. It has the graves of German, Polish and Russian soldiers killed in the First World War, and a 1984 monument to Soviet soldiers killed in the Second World War.

A Resting Place For Heroes

Buried here as well are the defenders of the Vilnius television tower, killed by Soviet occupational forces on January 13th, 1991, and the Medininkai border guards killed by Soviet shock troops on July 31st of the same year. A bronze sculpture of the Pietà (1995, sculptor Stanislovas Kuzma) commemorate their deaths.

A separate area in the cemetery is for the graves of Soviet leaders and cultural figures. The remains of 3,000 of Napoleon’s soldiers, discovered during construction excavations in Tuskulenai, were re-interred here in 2003.

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