WHY VILNIUS?

Architectural jewels of churches, living Baroque, the oldest university in Central Europe, and the largest Old Town in the Baltics.

The view from Gediminas Castle, where Duke Gediminas founded the city of Vilnius in 1232 under the symbol of the Iron Wolf, is impressive. Baroque, Gothic and Neo-Gothic buildings dazzle the eye and the spires of churches of all denominations rise to greet you. When Stephen Bathory, a Hungarian nobleman and one-time Prince of Transylvania, was recognized as Grand Duke of Lithuania and Duke of Ruthenia and Samogitia, he founded the Vilnius University as a token of this recognition in 1579. The university became a hub of intellectual activity which must have been instrumental in the Vilnius Old Town growing as it did. Hinc itur ad astra—“From here one rises to the stars.”

At the end of WWI, when a number of ‚new‘ European states were born, there was a dispute over who owned Vilnius. Should it go to the Lithuanians or the Poles? Lithuania got first dibs, but in October 1920, the Poles invaded and took it back. The Lithuanians then had no choice but to move their capital to Kaunas. This event also damaged relations among the three Baltic States because of their differing views and level of dependence on Poland.  In 1939, the Soviets gave Vilnius back to the Lithuanians in a faux gesture of friendship, only to occupy all of Lithuania in their next move. In the early 1990s, when Lithuania told the Soviet Union ‚Goodbye.’ they responded by saying ‚Fine, go if you want, but then we’re keeping Vilnius.‘ Well that didn’t work and today the historic Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, the unmissable house of painter and musician M. K. Curlionis and the Amber Museum are all in Vilnius, Lithuania.

In the 21^st century, the atmosphere of the Italian Renaissance and Baroque still exist in effortless combination with Russian Byzantine and historic Jewish elements. Before WWII, Vilnius was like a second Jerusalem where scholars had come to study and meet for at least 350 years, if not considerably longer. The city of Lodz was known as the Jewish business capital, but Vilnius was a place for wisdom. Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, known as the Genius of Vilna, lived here in the 18^th century, and the Father of Modern Hebrew, Eliezer ben Yehuda (1858–1922), lived not far in Luzhky (now part of Belarus‘). Before WWII there were 110 synagogues and 10 yeshivas here, but the entire community was destroyed during the war. Today Jews have returned and formed vibrant new centers and there is great interest in the treasures of Jewish history in Vilnius.

Vilnius has been named the European Capital of Culture for 2009. If you think you need a second passport, find a place to stay in Vilnius‘ city within a city the ‚Republic of Uzupis‘. The statutes of this republic promote creativity and tolerance and anyone who respects these values can become an Uzupis ambassador. Vilnius is brimming with creative talent: Nobel Prize winner Czeslaw Milosz studied here and newcomers, such as Zileniene the designer and Jakevicius the sculptor, may have time to say hello.