Page 240 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Estonia Latvia & Lithuania

238  LITHU ANIA REGION B Y REGION

The Uniates who live here now j Church of
are sometimes willing to show St Theresa
visitors round. Šv Teresės bažnyčia
R Church of the Holy Trinity Aušros vartų 14. Map 2 D5.
Tel 212 2578. 5 5:30pm Mon–Sat, Tel 212 3513. 5 7:30am (Latin),
10am Sun. 6:30pm Mon–Fri; 11am, 6:30pm Sun.

h Church of the Another early feature of the
Baroque landscape, built from
Holy Spirit 1630 to 1655, is the Church of
Šv Dvasios cerkvė St Theresa, which stands in front
of the Gates of Dawn. Materials
Aušros vartų 10. Map 2 D5. Tel 212
7765. ^ 5 8am, 5pm Mon–Fri; like black marble in the portal
7am, 10am, 5pm Sun. and sandstone from Sweden,
used to beautify its façade, were
This Baroque church is the also used in St Casimir’s Chapel
Ornate Baroque entranceway of the religious centre of the city’s inside Vilnius Cathedral (see
Basilian Gate Russian Orthodox faithful. p229) around the same time.
Though completed in This has led some
g Basilian Gate 1634, it remains researchers to believe
Bazilijonų vartai rem arkably intact, the that Italian craftsmen
only alterations to the who designed the
Aušros vartų 7b. Map 2 D5.
exterior being a raised chapel also contributed
The awe-inspiring Basilian Gate façade and a new to the Church of
was designed in 1761 in dome added in the late St Theresa. The main
flamboyant late Baroque style 19th century. The attraction of the church
by J K Glaubitz (see p237). An all- painting over the is its interior, with its
seeing eye peers out from the doorway depicts frescoes and altars
central niche. The white bas- Sts Anthony, Ivan and Painting, Church of dating back to the
relief at the top portrays the Eustachius, whose St Theresa second half of the 18th
Holy Trinity, a hint of what lies remains lie within, century. The painting
beyond the gate. The Church of miraculously preserved. In the on the high altar is The Exaltation
the Holy Trinity, placed in the 14th century, the three were of St Theresa by Szymon
hands of the Uniates in 1598, Christians in the court of pagan Czechowicz (1689–1775). St
stands at the centre of an Grand Duke Algirdas. When the Theresa of Ávila in Spain inspired
enclosed court yard. This was pagan priests demanded that the formation in 1593 of the
once a seclu ded monastery, but they renounce their faith, they Discalced (Barefoot) Carmelites,
in 1823 the Tsarist authorities refused and were hanged from a Roman Catholic order whose
turned it into a prison for an oak tree. They were canonized emphasis was on discipline and
anti-Russian revolutionaries and in 1547 and the nearby Church prayer. A con vent was located
held Adam Mickiewicz (see of the Holy Trinity was built in next door, but today it is a hotel,
p233) there the same year. place of the oak. the Domus Maria (see p304).

Frescoes on the ceiling of the Church of St Theresa
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp304–305 and pp326–8

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