Must-see attractions in Lithuania

  • Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Vilnius. Lithuania.; Shutterstock ID 712536580

    St Michael the Archangel Church

    Vilnius

    This grand early-17th-century chuch, built by the Sapiega family, now houses a wonderful museum of sacral art. The building itself, with its single Gothic…

  • 500px Photo ID: 121014055 - The historians suppose that in the 13th century before the conversion of Lithuania to Christianity on this hill seven Franciscan monks, that preached the new religion, were murdered. The monks were crucified and then four of them were tossed into the river to check whether a new god could work wonders and save his servants..In the 13th century the third Vilnius castle, the so called Crooked Castle, stood on the hill on the bank of the river Vilnia. In 1390 it was burnt to the ground by the sword-bearers and never rebuilt. On its spot, in 1613, the first crosses were erected to honor the monks that had died the death of martyrs. In 1916 the concrete crosses designed by the architect A. Vivulskis replaced the old wooden ones. In the postwar years at the behest of the Soviet Government the crosses, as well as many other religious monuments, were blown up and buried. The Three Crosses Monument was re-erected on the day of commemoration of the June massive exiles of the population in 1941 (June 14, 1989). The blasted crosses lie nearby the new ones to remind the contemporaries of the tragic Lithuanian history and to warn the posterity against the neglecting of the country's tradition..From the top of the hill one can enjoy a breathtaking panorama of Vilnius.

    Three Crosses

    Vilnius

    Crosses were first erected in the 17th century, in memory of a group of monks martyred by pagans three centuries earlier. The current crosses replace…

  • Paneriai Memorial Museum

    Lithuania

    This small museum is densely packed with details about the atrocities committed in Paneriai's forests. Between 1941 and 1944, around 100,000 people …

  • Klaipėda Castle Museum

    Klaipėda

    The castle museum is spread across four exhibition spaces around Klaipėda's castle – two of these are located in atmospherically lit tunnels and deal with…

  • Kernavė Cultural Reserve

    Lithuania

    Deemed an ‘exceptional testimony to 10 millennia of human settlements in this region’ by Unesco, which made it a World Heritage site in 2004, Kernavė is a…

  • Biržai Castle

    Lithuania

    First built by Duke Kristupas Radvila in the late 16th century, Biržai Castle was largely restored in the 1980s, having been twice destroyed. Its huge,…

  • House of Perkūnas

    Kaunas

    With ornate arches and turrets rippling from its brick facade, this late-15th-century mansion is a treasure of Kaunas' late-Gothic architecture. Built by…

  • Užupis Republic Constitution

    Vilnius

    The 'Republic' of Užupis's Constitution is engraved in English, French, Lithuanian and several other languages on plaques running along Paupio gatvė. It…

  • Nemėžis Mosque

    Lithuania

    Though the wooden mosque in this historical village dates back to 1909, record show that there has been a mosque on this site since 1684. It is one of the…

  • Lietūkis Garage Massacre Memorial

    Kaunas

    This small memorial in the courtyard marks the spot where, on June 27, 1941, during the first days of the Nazi occupation of the city, Lithuanian …

  • Karaite Ethnographic Museum

    Lithuania

    Displaying traditional dress, arresting photographs and items from daily life, this small ethnographic museum traces the ancestry of the Karaites, a…

  • Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit

    Vilnius

    The peachy facade gives an understated first impression but there's an electric atmosphere inside Lithuania’s chief Russian Orthodox church. The 16th…

  • Open-Air Museum of Lithuania

    Kaunas

    The open-air museum consists of re-created 18th- and 19th-century villages representing Lithuania’s main regions (Dzūkija, Aukštaitija, Suvalkija,…

  • Town Hall

    Kaunas

    Old Town's tallest tower (53m) rises from Kaunas' Town Hall, an elegant white layer-cake of a building. Built in the mid-16th century, the hall has served…

  • Biržai Regional Park

    Lithuania

    The region around Biržai is famous for its karst sinkholes, formed when underground water sources wash away the gypsum supporting the soil. More than 9000…

  • Puntukas Stone

    Lithuania

    A pine forest 10km south of Anykščiai contains the Puntakas Stone (Puntuko akmuo), a boulder 5.7m tall, 6.7m wide and 6.9m long, which legend says was put…

  • Bernadine Church & Monastery

    Vilnius

    The massive buttresses and towering walls of this, one of the most impressive churches in Vilnius, are capable of providing defence as well as worship…

  • Ventės Ragas Ornithological Station

    Lithuania

    The first bird-ringing station was established here in 1929, but it was not until 1959 to 1960 that large bird traps were installed. Today around 100,000…

  • Horse Museum

    Lithuania

    Horse lovers – and kids – will want to make the journey 6km north to Lithuania’s only horse museum, in the tiny village of Niūronys. Set out as a…

  • Kaunas Picture Gallery

    Kaunas

    This branch of the many-tentacled Čiurlionis museum exhibits works by 20th-century Lithuanian artists, including a particularly poignant Lithuania In…

  • TV Tower

    Vilnius

    It’s hard to miss the 326m TV tower on the city’s western horizon. This tall needle symbolises Lithuania’s strength of spirit: on 13 January 1991 the…

  • Čepkeliai Strict Nature Reserve

    Lithuania

    The 112-sq-km Čepkeliai reserve, the largest area of untouched nature in Lithuania, is a glorious wet wilderness of bogs, black alder swamps, Cladinoso…

  • Pranas Domšaitis Gallery

    Klaipėda

    This gallery is renowned for the bold works by the Prussian-born expressionist painter Pranas Domšaitis (1880–1965), who spent his last years in South…

  • Molėtai Astronomical Observatory

    Lithuania

    There are spectacular views of Molėtai’s lake-studded landscape and the stars above from the Molėtai Astronomical Observatory on Kaldiniai Hill (193m)…

  • Make Everything Great Again Mural

    Vilnius

    In 2016 the mural by artist Mindaugas Bonanu, depicting Trump and Putin kissing and the slogan 'Make Everything Great Again', went viral. It was a…

  • Museum of Applied Art

    Vilnius

    The Old Arsenal, built in the 16th century and restored in the 1980s, houses temporary exhibitions and a permanent collection showcasing 15th- to 19th…

  • Museum of Armed Resistance & Exile

    Lithuania

    A simple, two-room museum on the upper floor of the Cultural Centre tells an incredible history: the forced deportation of Lithuanians to Siberia and the…

  • Frenkelis Villa

    Lithuania

    To the east of the town centre stands Frenkelis Villa, built in art-nouveau style in 1908 for the then leather baron of Šiauliai. It survived WWII…

  • St Michael the Archangel Church

    Kaunas

    The Soviets turned this blue-domed neo-Byzantine church, which fills the sky so dramatically at the eastern end of Laisvės alėja, into a stained-glass…

  • Clock Museum

    Klaipėda

    If you want to know what makes things tick, look no further than this niche museum that explores human measurement of time, from the earliest sundials to…

  • Choral Synagogue

    Vilnius

    Vilnius' flourishing Jewish communities and 100 synagogues gave the city the nickname 'Jerusalem of the north' until WWII. The Choral Synagogue, built in…

  • Maironis Lithuanian Literary Museum

    Kaunas

    Even travellers unenthused by turn-of-the-20th-century literature will be enchanted by this museum dedicated to Lithuanian luminary Maironis (aka Jonas…

  • Chapel of the Gates of Dawn

    Vilnius

    Above the Gates of Dawn you'll find this 18th-century chapel, aka the Gates of Dawn Chapel of Mary the Mother of Mercy. Inside is a venerated painting of…

  • Theatre, Music & Cinema Museum

    Vilnius

    Artefacts of Lithuanian song, stage and screen are the stars of this museum. Three centuries of notable instruments – including the pūslinė (a primitive…

  • Samuel Bak Museum

    Vilnius

    This art gallery, a branch of the Jewish State Museum, showcases the bold, vivid, somewhat surrealist paintings of renowned artist Samuel Bak, whose works…

  • House of Signatories

    Vilnius

    Lithuania's Declaration of Independence was signed here on 16 February 1918. Today, across 14 rooms of this 18th-century house, you'll find a reverent…

  • Archaeological & Historical Museum

    Lithuania

    This absorbing museum traces the history of the area from 9000 BC to the 13th and 14th centuries AD. There is a wealth of artefacts on display – pottery,…

  • Švyturys

    Klaipėda

    Klaipėda is home to the country’s second-oldest brewery, where its biggest beer, Švyturys, has been brewed since 1784. Book through the tourist office or…

  • Christ's Resurrection Basilica

    Kaunas

    There's an austerity, symmetry and simplicity to this white-washed concrete cathedral, built over a period of 70 years from 1934 onwards, though its…

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