The Cathedral Square branches into one of the most beautiful and central streets of the city – Pilies Street. It is one of the oldest streets in the city, rich with interesting ancient buildings. Today, house number twenty-six in Pilies Street is the House of Signatories. It is a historical and architectural monument, where on February 16^th, 1918, the Act of Independence of Lithuania was signed. The present Pilies Street is divided into two sections: from the Saint Pararascevia Ortho­dox Church the street is called Didžioji Street. In earlier times, Pilies Street was a single street link­ing the Cathedral and the Town Hall.

The Magdeburg Rights were granted to Vilnius by Jagiello (Lithuanian: Jogaila), Grand Duke of Lithuania and king of Poland, in 1387. The initial, gothic-style Town Hall in Vilnius was mentioned for the first time in 1432. It was stand­ing on the same spot where its successor is now. The Town Hall Square contained market places, measures, treasure house, chancellery, archives, underground prison. It was the place, where the city authorities and merchants would gather. The Town Hall acquired its present appearance in the end of 18^th century after the reconstruction de­signed by Laurynas Stuoka-Gucevičius, designer of the reconstructed Vilnius Cathedral. That’s why these two Classical-style buildings are well distin­guished in the surrounding of various styles. When
the right of self-rule was cancelled, the Small The­atre (Lithuanian: Mažasis teatras) was opened in the Town Hall in 1811 and a standing theatre was functioning from 1845 to 1922.

The authentic interior of the Town Hall was badly damaged in order to adapt the building for theatre’s purposes. In 1944-1995, the Town Hall housed the Lithuanian Art Museum. Today, representative events and exhibitions are held in the Town Hall.

The Town Hall Square has been recently reconstructed and now overlooks the beautiful baroque facade of Si Casimir Church, which is one of the earliest buildings in the baroque style in Vilnius. There are very many baroque structures in Vilnius, and the city can be reasonably proud of them. The building of the St. Casimir Church (Lithuanian: Šv. Kazimiero bažnyčia) and a monastery was started in 1604, after Casimir was declared a saint, by active Jesuits and with the support of the Grand Chancellor of Lithuania Sapieha. The Church of Gesu (II Gesu) in Rome was chosen as an architectural analogue for the St. Casimir Church. The crown of the dome was built during later reconstructions of the church. The church was taken away from the Catholics; it was turned to an Orthodox church in 1831-1917 and even adapted for the purposes of Museum of Atheism in 1961-1989. Today services are said in the church again and Jesuits are settled nearby.

The territory of Vilnius castles was well for­tified from olden times in order to defend the resi­dents of the city from frequent enemies’ attacks. The idea of defensive fortifications and defensive wall of Vilnius city emerged at the end of the 15^th century – early 16^th century, when Russia started getting stronger and endangering Lithuania. In 1503-1522, a brick wall of the city was built with the efforts of all Vilnius residents.

On the extant part of the defensive city wall of Vilnius there is the small Chapel of the Gate of Dawn arranged above the Gate of Dawn (Lithuanian: Aušros vartai, also known as the Medininkai Gate). Today it is the most famous and beloved shrine of Catholics, containing a renowned miraculous painting of the Mother of God. The attic of the city gate is decorated with two relief-work griffins, holding the shield with the coat-of-arms.

In Middle Ages, it was a usual thing to place the pictures of saints on city gates. They were supposed to ensure peace for city residents and protect them from enemies. The Carmelite monks, who established themselves nearby the Gate of Dawn, began to take care of this renowned miraculous painting of the Mother of God in 1626. For this purpose, in 1671 they built the initial chapel, which was destroyed in fire in 1712-1715 and the present renaissance chapel was built.

The image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, was painted by an unknown art­ist on oak boards in the 17^th century, following the 16^th century Netherlandish style of wood engrav­ing. The painting is believed to have had its twin equivalent, painting of Jesus Christ, facing out­wards the City Wall. The painting of the Mother of God was repainted many times; the hands of the Mother of God were repainted even eight times. The painting is 200×162 cm in size. It is one of five crowned miraculous pictures of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lithuania. But it is the only one, where Mary is depicted without a Baby Jesus. In 1702, during the battle trying to relieve the city from Swedes, a bullet was put through the pic­ture of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In later years, the painting was covered with gilded silver gar­ment decorated with engraved flowers. In 1927, Pope Pius XI allowed the painting to be solemnly crowned and Madonna of the Gates of Dawn was conferred the golden crowns of the pope. After 1864, Latin inscription “Mater Misericordiae, sun Tuum Praesidium confugimus” (Mother of Mercy, we pray for your protection) appeared on the facade of the chapel. Pope John Paul II visited the Chapel of the Gate of Dawn in 1993, during his visit to Lithuania.

Cathedral-Basilica

One of the main accents at the foot of the Vilnius castle complex is the Ca­thedral-Basilica of St. Stanislaus and St. Ladislaus, built in 1251. The Cathedral is allegedly built at the place of pagan temple in the times of Lithu­anian king Mindaugas. After king’s death in 1261, the Cathedral is believed to become, for a certain time, a place of pagan worship again. When Lithuania was converted to Christianity in 1387, a new church with 5 chapels was built. The first Lithuanian school was opened at the church. The appearance of the church has been changing over the time. The Cathedral was reconstructed to its present appearance according to the design of Laurynas Gucevičius in the classical style in 1801. In 1889, Juozapas Radavičius built organs for the Cathedral. In Soviet times, in 1956-1988, the Cathedral was used as a picture gallery.

Today the Cathedral appears in the classical style, strict rectangular shape. This mononave church has 11 lateral chapels. The most valuable one is the St. Casimir Chapel. The Royal (Valavičiai) Chapel is believed to be the place of the secret wedding of Sigismund Augustus (Lithuanian: Žygimantas Augustas) and Barbara Radziwitt (Lithuanian: Barbora Radvilaitė). The mi­raculous image of the Mother of God (known as the “Madonna of Sapiega”, early 17^th century), portraying the Blessed Virgin Mary with Franciscan saints, is in the Sapieha (Lithuanian: Sapiega) chapel.

Three sculptures of Saint Casimir, Saint Stanislaus and Saint Helena are placed on the roof of the Cathedral. In the catacombs of the Cathedral there is an exposition illustrating the history of the Cathedral, guiding visitors through the stages of its construction and reconstruction, from the original Cathedral, built by King Mindaugas in the 13^th century, up to the last reconstruction of the Cathedral. For a long time the catacombs of the Arch-cathedral was the place, where men of merit to the Catholic Church and the GDL were interred. Vytautas the Great and his wife Anna (Lithuanian Ona) are believed to be among them. A fresco dating from the 14^th century, the oldest known fresco in Lithuania, portraying a crucifix, can be seen in one of the under­ground chapels.

The Cathedral’s bell tower (57 m) was built atop a defensive tower of the Lower Castle. The tower is believed to have been originally built for defense purposes and adapted as a bell tower later on. Its oldest underground square section was built as early as in the 13^th century on the bottom of the old riverbed. The round stonework section is attributed to the 14^th century, as is the Cathedral. The bell tower acquired its present appearance after the 1801 re­construction. The clock in the tower bell is dated from the 17^th century. A monu­ment to Gediminas, founder of Vilnius, is situated in the Cathedral Square, nearby the Royal Palace.

Chapel of St. Casim

The architecture of Vilnius city reflects the traces of many epochs, but the baroque epoch accounts for the most impressive chefs- d’oeuvre. The Chapel of St. Casimir is one of them. The chapel was built in honor of Saint Casimir (Lithuanian: Šv. Kazimieras), first saint patron of Lithuania, at the initiative of Sigismund Vasa in 1620-1636. The chapel was designed by Matteo Castello, its original interior was created and construction works were supervised by Constante Tencalla. The remains of Saint Casimir rest in a silver sarcophagus above the altar of the chapel. On the top of the coffin there is a sculpture representing the saint with a lily in his hands.

One of the most interesting masterpieces of the chapel is a miraculous painting of three-handed St. Casimir, placed in the altar of the chapel. The picture is believed to have been painted about 1520 and renovated in 1594. The painting repre­sents the saint in a red mantle decorated with ermine. The painting is believed to portray, how St. Casimir was dressed, when he was buried. In 1604, when the chapel was rearranged, the coffin was opened and the body was found dressed in a long red cloth and fully preserved. The opening of St. Casimir’s coffin is shown in a fresco by Michelangelo Palloni on a wall of the chapel. Another fresco depicts Ursule, a small sick girl, being miraculously cured by Saint Casimir.

The painting in the altar shows St. Casimir with three hands: his right hand with a lily is painted twice. A legend says that the artist didn’t like the original right hand he had created, so next day he painted another one over the top, but the colours of the original were as bright as those of the newly painted hand. The artist tried to hide the hands of the saint, but they kept reappearing. This was considered a miracle and the artist stopped opposing the God’s will. In 1636, the oldest extant picture of the saint was encased in gilded silver, leaving open only the face and the hands of the saint.

Abundant decor in the chapel is nicely accommodated. Even the smallest details are combined into a single iconographic panorama depicting the sanctity and history of the prince. There are eight silver-coated wooden sculptures of Lithuanian rulers in the niches of the chapel. Stucco figures are created by Giovanni Pietro Perti, famous for his works in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, too. The vaulting above the altar is decorated with frescos showing the ecstasy of St. Casimir: in one fresco angels are carrying the trappings of the saint – lilies and a cross; another fresco depicts the special devotion of St. Casimir to the Blessed Virgin Mary “Omni die die Mariae”.

 A paper scroll containing this prayer was also found in the tomb of the saint.

Beneath the Chapel of St. Casimir there is a mausoleum of rulers, whereto the remains of Alexander Jagiellon, two wives of Sigismund Au­gustus, Elisabeth and Barbara, the urn with the heart of Wladyslaw Vasa were relocated from the catacombs of the Cathedral.

Saint Casimir (1458-1484) is a member of the Gediminids dynasty, grandson of king of Lithuania and Poland Jagiello (Lithuanian: Jogaila), and the son of Casimir (son of Jagiello) and Elizabeth (Lithuanian: Elžbieta) (daughter of Emperor Albert II). In his big family (there were 6 brothers and 6 sisters in the family), Casimir was outstanding for piety and agile mind from the very childhood. He substituted his father at the throne for a short while. Yet, the prince withdrew from the throne, followed the principles of chastity and honour, and was remarkable for ardent piety.

In March, the feast of St. Casimir is mentioned not only ecclesiastically. Picturesque Kaziukas fairs (literary – Little Casimir’s Fair) are held in Vilnius and last for several days. These fairs attract a lot of people to the capital of Lithuania. Then streets are full of people in disguise, there are theatricalised processions and meals are offered on the streets. The Kaziukas Fair is a merry, picturesque festivity for Vilnius residents and guests, leaving no one indifferent.

The earliest settlements in Vilnius are believed to have been found in the valleys of the Neris and Vilnia. Archaeological findings near the Old Arsenal trace back to the 4^th century BC and findings in the Castle Hill (Lithuanian: Pilies kalnas) are dated the 1^st century BC. In the 5^th century AD, there was quite a big settlement at the foot of the hill. In the 15^th century, there was the Upper Castle built from bricks on the Castle Hill (now often referred to as the Gediminas’ Hill); the wooden Crooked Castle (Lithuanian: Kreivoji pilis), called as such due to its shape, was built on the nearby Hill (Lithuanian: Pilkasis kalnas), where the monument of Three Crosses (Lithuanian: Trys kryžiai) is situated now.

The only tower of the Upper Castle, which has survived until nowadays, is Gediminas Tower. The Upper Castle has been referred to in written sources from 1323. After a big fire in 1419, the castle was rebuilt by Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas, who also built a luxurious palace of grand dukes in the territory of the defense castle. The castle was ruined during the war with Moscow in 1655-1661. In 1988, on the onset of the Lithuanian reform movement Sąjūdis, the Lithuanian tricolor flag was hoisted on the Gediminas Tower. The flag is still fluttering there today. The Gediminas Tower overlooks a beautiful panorama; there is a small exposition opened in the tower.

One more panoramic accent of Vilnius is Three Crosses, looming on the Bleak Hill. The history of the Three Crosses reflects well the doom of the country itself and of the Christian Catholic religion. This hill is believed to have sheltered Franciscan monks at the times of Grand Duke Algirdas. These monks were martyred by pagan Lithuanians. In the 16^th century, when the cult of martyrdom started spreading, three huge wooden crosses were built on the hill. In a course of time, the wooden crosses simply rotted away. In 1915, at the initiative of true believers of Vilnius, a concrete monument of three crosses was built in replacement.

A length of 65 kilometers of the Nemunas goes in all four directions of the compass: quite recently from the cape of Birstonas one could watch the river running west on one side and east on the other; however presently this view is obscured by exuberant forests. The average depth of the valley is 40 meters.

The picturesque slopes of the valley are spruced up by the exposures (Balbieriskis, Skevonys, Siponys, Kernuviu, etc.). The beauty of the place was depicted by the famous Lithuanian poet Justinas Marcinkevieius: “Blessed places, surroundings of incredible beauty. The old Nemunas, which was toiling hard to create the loops, seems to be mesmerized by their beauty and now dancing about from one side to another..

They infatuated the old Nemunas, which was no longer aware which direction its waters were flowing. We are grateful to the Nemunas for the giddiness that created the most unique monument of nature – 60 kilometers of the Nemunas Great Loops, No other European river has ever worked so hard”.

The Great Loops of the river Nemunas were hardly comprehensible to the old-time river workers. Even in Magni Ducatus Lithuania, a relatively precise map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania published in 1613, the cartographers failed to depict them correctly. It was only in 1852 that they were correctly marked by Abichtas, a professor of Vilnius University.

The real reason for the Nemunas looping is still unknown. Some geologists claim that the loops emerged due to some slight rise of the earth formations between BirStonas and Punia, which made the Nemunas dance around and curve the loops of Punia, Baibieriskis, Prienai, and BirStonas.

The most interesting loop in the watercourse of the Nemunas is the 19-kilometre long loop of Punia. The river skirts the forest of Punia, visits the legendary Punia, the old villages of Nemajunai and Siponys, and after the long journey returns to almost the same place, which is only 2.2 km away from the outset of the loop. As the loop of Punia reminds a human skull, the spirit of introversion is said to linger in this place, which is further intensified by the beauty of the wild nature.

29 kilometres in length, the loop of Balbieriskis is the biggest in the Nemunas bed, with the isthmus of only 4 kilometres in the narrowest place. Here the Nemunas has always been a demarcation line between two ethnic regions – Suvalkija and Dzukija (which are situated on the left and the right bank of the Nemunas, respectively).

The shortest loop is Prienq and BirStqria It is only 17 kilometres long and in the narrowest place the waters of the Nemunas are onfy 1.2 km apart. This loop is by far the most tamed, built-up, and civilized: Here the towns of Prienai and Birstonas have been expanding and growing in the direction of each other for a long time.

The picturesque scenery of this countryside was formed by the vivid pinewoods and forests rather than the river alone. The forests occupy 87% of the park. Pinewoods with broad-leaved trees dominate the area. The biggest treasure of the park is the forests of Punia and Prienai that still have large areas of trees typical to the old forests: 300-year-old oak forest, 200-year-old pinewoods and fir-free forests. They are most valuable forests both in park and in Lithuania, deservedly boasting the titles of the tallest trees in the tree kingdom, as most of the pines are up to 40 metershigh whereas the oaks come up to 30 meters. The highest tree of Lithuania – a 46-meter larch – is growing in the unique larch forest of Degsne. The larch forest was planted by people 150 years ago.

Rare species of flora and fauna find a shelter on the scarcely inhabited slopes. In the forest of Punia you can see the bloom of the red helleborine of Ochidacea a great dormouse, which is a large rodent similar to the squirrel, and in the forest of Prienai you can find a honey-buzzard. This bird of pray, which reminds of a buzzar eats wasp larvae, grasshoppers and otter insects.

In the park you can find scenery fragments characteristic of different historical periods. Travelers enjoy the possibility of getting acquainted with entire centuries in just a few days. This is a unique exposition of the scenery development in a single place which does not exist in any other part of Lithuania. In the forest of Punia, there are scenery fragments from the period of human settlements in the forest. In the vicinities of Siponys you can find linear (one-street) villages, places of former manor houses, roads, original groves, i.e. formations typical to the period of the post-valak (a land measurement unit) reform, where as the villages of Žvyrynai, Naravai, Matiešionys, and Žemaitkiemis best reflect the landscape of granges.

The Regional Park of the Nemunas Loops is probably the best location in the Central Lithuania to enjoy peaceful relax and to admire the exceptionally beautiful landscape, overwhelming the soul of a traveler and alluring to return again and again.

Park Statistics: 66 species of plants, 13 kinds of mushrooms, and 76 species of animals are included into the Red Book of Lithuania; there is one nature reserve of Punia and 17 protected areas, 9 Natūra 2000 territories; 27 nature valuables and 56 immovable cultural goods are registered; 20 mounds overlook the bends of the rivers Nemunas and Verknė; 5 exposures and the conglomerate rock “Ožkų pečius” (oven of goats) resemblinga bee comb, which is formed of gravel, pebble stones, and clay, allure the geologists

You have to be experienced in skiing, as this is a mandatory requirement before entering snow arena park. But you always can use ski school services which available for additional fee. Instructors will teach you well, so you could enjoy all slopes same day. Don’t forget snowboarding park, where you can use slides and slopes which are changed at least once a month. And for extreme lovers sometimes air bag being inflated, so you can test all your skills safely.

While skiing you can refresh at CARLSBERG FINISH BAR or ABSOLUT ICE BAR with awesome view (Be aware, time spent in those count in, so don’t stay for too long). And there are also places where you can warm up with a of tea or warm wine, and time wont count in. In addition there is a self service restaurant, kids area with supervising, hotel, skiing shop and much more to ensure your day will be nice and happy.

The recent military conflict in history, despite its enormous impact, not only in Lithuania but also in the whole history of Europe, was not widely known in our country’s society. During the twenty years of independence, Lithuania has not been installed any museums of Cold War period. According to George Orwell, each generation imagines itself smarter and wiser than the last for the next. This expression is reflected in the situation where our country from the whole society has been hiding a lot of Lithuanian history-related facts and events.

Everything changed this year when Žemaitija National Park has implemented a large-scale Cold War Museum. Museums is in an ideal location of the former Soviet ballistic missile launchers shallow device database, and it reflects a modern times of Cold War period. This museum tells the story of the fifty-year armed conflict and its impact on the history of Lithuania and the impact of technological development and technology, society, nuclear weapons pose a threat to human civilization. The newly equipped museum exhibition contains a unique visual and graphic material, “about a onetime top-secret nuclear weapons of the Soviet empire and the functioning of an organization, also demonstrating combat missiles and other weapons, which were used during the Cold War, examples of types and models.

Short history: Year 1962 Plateliai, in the Plokstainiu forest was started to construct the first Soviet Union “Dvina” type underground ballistic medium-range missile base, with a shaft of four missile launchers. To achieve high security, 10,000 Soviet soldiers were brought from stroibat  which digged with shovels helped things to get done. Within 8 months on December of 31 1962 shaft construction was completed. After equipping with missiles R-12Y database has been accepted into armaments in January 5 of 1964. Due to the extremely large base confidentiality and the possible risks of missiles no test launching were ever allowed. Plateliai people could only guess what is hiding behind the high-security mantle. In 1978 U.S. intelligence get to knew about the base location, so it has been disarmed and abandoned. During independence of Lithuania it was hit by metal thieves. Later it was due to National Park. There is now the only one in the world Cold War military museum, which is Lithuania is proud of.