Page 229 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Estonia Latvia & Lithuania

VILNIUS  227

Elegantly displayed paintings in one of the exhibition rooms, Vilnius Picture Gallery
4 Vilnius Picture Peter the Great baptized a nine- of Lithuania signed the deed
Gallery year-old African slave by the that restored Lithuania’s
Vilniaus paveikslų galerija name of Hannibal, later Major- independence. The Štralis
General Abram Petrovich Coffee House on the ground
Didžioji 4. Map 2 D4. Tel 212 4258. Hannibal (1696–1781), great- floor, created during reno vation
Open 11am–6pm Tue–Sat, noon– grandfather of the Russian poet in the 1890s, was a popular
5pm Sun. & 8 = ∑ ldm.lt Alexander Pushkin. The current meeting place for leading
building, designed by Nikolai figures in the Lithuanian
The imposing, enclosed Neo- Chagin, dates from 1865. Closed national revival.
Classical courtyard of this gallery during the Soviet period, it has The second-floor room,
offers a reflection of 19th-century been returned to the Russian where the independence
Vilnius, when these premises Orthodox faith. act was signed, has been
were used by Vilnius University re-created. Unfortunately,
and the Medical Academy. Inside, the displays on this historic
the paintings on display show event are a little sparse.
how the main art movements of
the 19th and early 20th centuries 7 Šlapelis House
influenced the development of
Lithuanian art. Lithuanian Girl Museum
with Verbos by Kanutas Ruseckas Šlapelių namas-muziejus
(1800–60) is an icon of the Pilies 40. Map 2 D4. Tel 261 0771.
Romantic aesthetic in Lithuanian Open 11am–5pm Wed–Sun (call in
art. Similarly, the later move- advance). 8 ∑ vilniausmuziejai.lt
ments of Realism and
Impressionism are reflec ted, Presenting a journey back in
respectively, in intimate portraits, time to Vilnius during the
such as Alfredas Romeris’s Study troubled first half of the 20th
of a Girl’s Hands, and open century, this modest, yet
landscapes, such as Juozas evo cative, museum is dedicated
Balzukevičius’s Across a Ryefield. to Marija and Jurgis Šlapelis.
Although a native Polish-
5 Church of The small Russian Orthodox Church of speaker, Marija secretly ran a
Lithuanian-language book shop
St Paraskeva St Paraskeva on nearby Domininkonų Street
Šv Paraskevos cerkvė while the city was under
Didžioji 2. Map 2 D4. Tel 215 3747. 6 House of Russian, Polish, Nazi and Soviet
occupations between 1906
Also known as Pyatnitskaya Signatories and 1949.
Church, this attractive little Signatarų namai On display are furnishings,
Orthodox church stands on a Pilies 26. Map 2 D3. Tel 231 4437. newspapers, books, music
site that has been used for rituals Open 10am–5pm Tue–Sat. 8 - sheets and postcards from
and prayer for many centuries. this time. In addition, photo-
In the mid-14th century, Grand The House of Signatories, with graphs showing a number
Duke Algirdas built a church an extravagant façade, has of family reunions following
here for his Orthodox wife, played a crucial role in the end of Soviet occupation
before which it had been a Lithuania’s modern history. It can be found beneath 17th-
pagan sanctuary. Here, at the was here that, on 16 February century beams in what used
beginning of the 18th century, 1918, the newly created Council to be the kitchen.

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