Page 251 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Estonia Latvia & Lithuania

VILNIUS  249

1941 and August 1944. Around e Verkiai Palace
29,000 Poles, Russians and Verkių rūmai
people of other nationalities Žaliujų ežerių 49. Tel 272 9834.
were killed, as were many Roma @ 35, 36, 76. Open by appointment.
and about 500 Catholic priests. & 8 0
The executions were carried out
by Nazi units with the help of a This once-immense Classical
squad of Lithuanians. The sites, mansion was designed by
inclu ding a large pit where, in Laurynas Stuoka-Gucevičius
1944, the retreating Nazis (1753–98) and Marcin Knackfus
attempted to destroy the last of (1740–1821). The two distin-
the bodies with acid, are now guished architects were com-
an open-air memorial. The first missioned in 1781 to create a
memorial was raised here in 1948. summer retreat for the Bishop
The tiny visitor centre is open only of Vilnius. They built the palace
by appointment in winter, but on a site that, some 400 years
the rest of the site is accessible. Twin-towered façade of the 18th-century previously, had been granted
Trinapolis Church by Grand Duke Jogaila (see
pp214–15) on his con version
w Trinapolis Church to Christianity, to the new
Šv Trejybės bažnyčia diocese of Vilnius.
The Classical gem was
Verkių 70. @ 35, 36, 50.
unfortunately short-lived. It
The original wooden church was ravaged so much by the
lasted only 6 years before it French army in 1812 that
burned down in 1710. The solid the subsequent owners had
Baroque structure that replaced the central part pulled down.
it in 1722 was designed by Only two wings of the palace
Pietro Puttini, a Veronese survive and some decoration
architect. Following the 1831 is still visible on the ceilings
uprising, the church was closed and the woodwork.
by the Russians and the interior Verkiai Palace is also a
destroyed. In 1849, it was popular place to visit because
converted into an Orthodox of its magnificent location on
church and the Metropolitan, a hilltop above the Neris river.
Fresco in a Station of the Cross, the city’s highest-ranking The views from here of the
Calvary Church of the Holy Cross Russian Orthodox personage, surrounding forests are
used the neighbouring stunning. A centuries-old
q Calvary Church monastery as his summer legend tells how a sacred fire
of the Holy Cross residence. In 1917, the church here was once tended by a
Kalvarijos bažnyčia was returned to the Catholics pagan priest and beautiful
and the Archbishop set up virgins. A winding path leads
Kalvarijų 327, 5 km (3 miles) N of Vilnius residence here. The church from the mansion gates down
Old Town. Tel 269 7469. @ 35, 36, 50. was closed during the Soviet to Vandens Malūnas, a former
5 7am, 7pm Mon–Fri; 10:30am, noon, era and is still not open to watermill that is now a
4pm Sun. ∑ vilniauskalvarijos.lt
the public. restaurant (see p326).
This twin-spire Baroque church
towering over the Neris Valley
was built by the Dominicans in
the 1750s. The prime feature
of its interior is a series of
ceiling frescoes depicting
the life of Christ. The main
high lights are the nearby
Stations of the Cross. Some
35 chapels, set along a 7-km
(4-mile) hillside route, many
in the Baroque style, were
a popular attraction for
19th-century pilgrims. In
1962, they were destroyed by
the Soviets. Several of the
chapels have been re-created. Vandens Malūnas, a former watermill near Verkiai Palace

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