Vilnius Churches
Lithuania has a Catholic bias compared to the other Baltic states that have a Lutheran one. Despite the Soviets’ attempts to destroy them many (mainly) Catholic churches survive, often with eye-candy Baroque interiors.
Several with ornate interiors are included in this page.
Saint Casimir Church was the earliest Baroque church in Vilnius, just behind the Town Hall. The building has had a chequered history. The Germans converted it into a Lutheran Church & the Soviets into a Russian Orthodox one before then making it into a Museum of Atheism. It was eventually reconsecrated as a Catholic church after the country became independent of the Russians in 1991. The Cupola is in a form of a Ducal crown.
The Church of All Saints is another old Baroque church built for the mendicant Carmelites. The church happens to adjoin what became a Jewish ghetto in WWII. Provisions & food were secretly sent through a tunnel linking the church & ghetto. It was also used as an escape route for some Jews. During the Soviet occupation it became a museum of Folk Art.
The Jesuit Church of Saint Johns (refers to both the Baptist & Evangelist) dominates the University complex. The Bell Tower is the highest structure in the Old Town. Its organ was the most famous one in the country, so of course the Soviets as was their want simply destroyed it.
The St Anne’s Church was originally wooded & after it burnt down it was replaced with this brickwork, flamboyant gothic-style church at the end of the 15th century. The main façade looks very strange to me. The accompanying bell tower was a 19th century addition, designed to blend in with the main building.
The Bernardine Church is round the corner from St Anne’s church & is also in brickwork, but much larger. Originally built in a gothic-style, over the years it has acquired renaissance & baroque additions. So a bit of a mongrel really. In the 16th century the church was incorporated into the city’s defensive walls which accounts for the shooting openings in its walls.
The sole Russian Orthodox church that I came across was the small Church of St. Nicholas, just off the Old Town Square. Ethnic Russians currently make up about 5% of the population of Lithuania which is about half what it was in the 1989 census.
