Page 242 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Estonia Latvia & Lithuania

240  LITHU ANIA REGION B Y REGION

x Church of the poorest of urban areas,
St Nicholas reaching out to the destitute,
Šv Mikalojaus bažnyčia often outside the safety of
the city walls. The Gothic main
Šv Mikalojaus 4. Map 2 D4. Tel 262 doorway dates from this earlier
3069. 5 8am, 6pm Mon–Fri; 9am Sat; period, but the rest of the
8am, 10am, 2pm Sun.
structure was built in the 1770s.
After the 1863 uprising (see
One of the oldest churches in p218), the church and friary
Lithuania, the Church of were closed and used as a
St Nicholas was built when granary and an archive. The
the country was still pagan. altars and the now unidentifiable
Most of its simple Gothic façade frescoes above the nave were
and interior dates from the virtually destroyed, as was a tall
16th century. The interior is Gothic bell tower that stood on
defined by the decorative brick Pranciškonų Street.
veins of the vaulting. Some
colourful paintings discovered Surviving fragment of a fresco on the v Dominican
here include a striking image ceiling of the Franciscan Church Church
of the sun.
The church has patriotic c Franciscan Šv Dvasios bažnyčia
conno tations for Lithuanians, as Church Domininkonų 8. Map 2 D4. Tel 262
from 1901 to 1939, when Vilnius 9595. 5 3pm, 6pm Mon–Fri;
was occupied by Russia and Pranciškonų bažnyčia 8am–6pm Sun.
then Poland, it was one of the Trakų 9/1. Map 1 C4. Tel 261 4242.
few churches allowed to hold 5 7:30am Mon, Tue, Thu & Fri; Also known as the Church of
Lithuanian-language services. 9am, 10:30am, 1pm & 5pm Sun. the Holy Spirit, the current
In the churchyard, the statue building of the Dominican
of St Christopher carrying the The cracked and cavernous, yet Church dates from the years
Infant Christ, created in 1959, highly evocative, Franciscan of repair that followed the
also helped to keep the spirits Church is also known as the des tructive war of 1655–61
of the people alive. The Church of Our Lady of the during the Russian occu pation.
sculptor, Antanas Kmieliauskas Assumption. It stands on a spot A church has stood on this spot
(b.1932), was expelled from the where, in the 14th century, since the 14th century.
Association of Artists because Franciscan friars established a The unassuming doorway,
of it. He later frescoed Littera base on the road to Trakai (see which can be easily missed,
bookshop in Vilnius University pp256–7). The Conventual belies the sumptuous interior.
(see p226). Franciscans chose to settle in Figures in stucco stand out on

Lavishly decorated interior of the Dominican Church, featuring Rococo altars
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp304–305 and pp326–8

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