Page 230 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Estonia Latvia & Lithuania

228  LITHU ANIA REGION B Y REGION

8 Vilnius Cathedral
Vilniaus arkikatedra bazilika
Having taken various guises since it was first built as a
Christian church on the site of a pagan temple in 1251, Vilnius
Cathedral today largely dates from the late 18th century.
The young architect, Laurynas Stuoka-Gucevičius, brought
the fashionable French Classicist style to Baroque Vilnius, his
idea for the cathedral exterior and interior being a visual
re-creation of a Greek temple. Vilnius Cathedral was closed by
the Soviets in 1950 and initially mooted for use as a garage
for truck repairs. In 1956, however, it opened as a picture Valavičius Chapel
gallery. It was eventually returned to the Catholic Church in Members of the Valavičius family
1989 and reconsecrated a year before were governors and bishops of
Vilnius. Their lavish chapel was
independence was declared. created in the early 17th century.

Stucco Sculpture
A sculpture depicting a
bird sacrifice can be
seen on the
tympanum of
the façade.

The entrance
is via a huge
Classical portico.

Wall Painting of the
Crucifixion
The oldest surviving fresco Statue of Luke, the Evangelist
in Lithuania, dating from Of the statues of the Four
the 14th century, can be Evangelists on the southern façade,
found in the crypt. It was Luke appears with a bull, which is a
discovered in 1925. symbol of service and sacrifice.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp304–305 and pp326–8

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