Dec 08 2008
Vilnius - European City of Culture 2009
Lithuania, the last pagan nation in Europe, didn’t adopt Christianity until late in the 14th Century, around 1387. Yet nowadays, Lithuania is one of the most religiously devoted nations in the whole of Europe. Between 1920 and 1991, Lithuania was under the control of the Soviet Union, an atheist society. Not surprisingly, these periods of godlessness and spirituality affected the churches of Vilnius, the nation’s capital.
Vilnius will be one of the European Cities of Culture in 2009 and walking around the city makes you realise that the history of the churches is inextricably linked with that of the nation.
First-time visitors to Cathedral Square in Vilnius could be forgiven for thinking that the late-eighteenth century cathedral was actually a Greek temple and its multi-tiered belfry a lighthouse. The neoclassical cathedral is a microcosm of Lithuania’s recent history. During the Soviet occupation the cathedral was a museum, but was reconsecrated in 1989, just in time to play a focal part in the independence movement. Above the columns, the cathedral’s façade is dominated by a statue of St Helena thrusting a cross skywards. St Casimir, the patron saint of Lithuania, is on the right and St Stanislas, the patron saint of Poland, on the left. The statues are all copies as the Soviets destroyed the originals. The recently renovated belfry is 57 metres high. The lowest tier is believed to be the remains of a Gothic defence tower from a castle that once stood on the site.
