ליטא

<p dir="rtl">כנסיות גותיות מקסימות, ארמונות מהממים, שילוב של ארכיטקטורה מימי הביניים עם השפעות מאוחרות ואווירה חלומית ברחובות &ndash; כל אלו מחכים למבקרים בווילנה. בירת ליטא היא עיר של אמנות ויצירה, בה קשה למצוא רחוב בלי גלריה מעניינת, והמוזיאון לאמנות מודרנית הוא אחת האטרקציות הכי מבוקשות. בנוסף, תמצאו בה שכונות שמפורסמות ביצירות הזכוכית שלהן, אמנות הרחוב וסגנון פרינג&#39; מיוחד ומפתיע. כמו כן, וילנה היא מרכז יהודי היסטורי חשוב, עם סיפור מרתק לכל מבקר. &nbsp;</p>

Vilnius’s medieval defensive walls originally had nine entry gates, all built in the early 16th century; as was custom then, each was decorated with a portrait of the Virgin Mary to ensure the protection of the city. Today only remnants of these walls still stand after the Russian attacks of 1799, and the whitewashed Gate of Dawn, completed in 1522 with an ornate pediment, is the last remaining of the original fortified city entrances.

Around 1630, Carmelite monks from a nearby monastery replaced the original image on the Gate of Dawn with a new icon named the ‘Vilnius Madonna’, painted on oak boards and widely believed in both Catholic and Orthodox faiths to have mystical healing powers. The Renaissance-style, pastel-blue-and-white Chapel of Our Lady of the Dawn was grafted on to the southern side of Gate of Dawn around 1706 to house the painting, which became one of Lithuania’s most revered icons.

Gate of Dawn (Ausros Vartai)

The decorative brick towers, rose windows and spires of this flamboyant late-Gothic church were finished in 1501, and today it is one of Old Town’s best-loved landmarks. The church was constructed on the site of an earlier wooden church first mentioned in 1394. St Anne's was designed by either Polish architect Michael Enkinger, who built a church of the same name in Warsaw, or the Bohemian Benedikt Rejt, who had a hand in building Prague Castle. Its ornate multi-patterned façade bristles with arcades, arches, flying buttresses and gargoyles.Inside, the church’s single nave is surprisingly austere, with high vaulted ceilings and plain walls with little adornment except carved wooden pews and lecterns. Much of the original stained glass was destroyed by Napoleon’s troops when they were stationed here in 1812, despite the apocryphal tale that he apparently loved the church so much he wanted to "carry it home in the palm of his hand."The freestanding, clumsy Neo-Gothic bell tower to the right of the main entrance to St Anne’s was an afterthought added in 1873; the church close by is St Francis and St Bernadine; together the three buildings comprise the Bernadine Priory.

St. Anne's Church

As one of the oldest universities in Eastern Europe, Vilnius’ seat of learning opened in 1579 and has since been extended to incorporate just about every architectural style, from Baroque to Neo-Classical. Built around a series of arcaded courtyards, the university also holds Lithuania’s oldest public library as well many suites of ornately frescoed and vaulted apartments. Like many other public buildings in the Baltic, the university has suffered or thrived according to the regime in power at any given time. Initially run by Jesuits, it was transferred to secular power in 1773 but closed in the late 19th century on the orders of Tsar Nicholas I. The university reopened in 1919 just before Lithuania was annexed by Poland, who ran the university until World War II, when it was administered by the Nazis and subsequently by the Soviet Union. Today it has been safely back in local hands since 1990, when Communism finally collapsed.Famous students at Vilnius University include the Polish Romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz and Nobel prizewinner Czeslaw Milosz. Today there are 15,000 students procuring 5,000 degrees annually and contributing to the buzzing social life so evident on the city’s streets.

Vilnius University (Vilniaus Universitetas)

A UNESCO World Heritage-listed treasure trove, Vilnius Old Town (Vilniaus Senamiestis) is cradled in the confluence of two rivers and is the best-preserved medieval town center in Europe. It was created over the centuries in an abundance of architectural styles from Gothic to Renaissance and is centered on the Neo-Classical Cathedral and its airy surrounding piazza. From here labyrinthine cobbled streets abuzz with restaurants, stores and bars lead upward towards the Higher Castle among pastel-painted Baroque churches and centuries-old townhouses constructed of tiny red bricks. Many of the myriad attractions of Vilnius lie within this district, from the Neo-Classical Presidential Palace to the Gothic St Anne’s Church, the Baroque chapel at the Gate of Dawn and the convoluted backstreets of one of the city’s two former Jewish quarters. Overlooking all this stands the Higher Castle, which can also be reached by funicular from the Lower Castle next to the Cathedral. Although not much of the castle has survived the wars and revolutions that have marred Lithuania’s history, the Gediminas Tower has become a squat, hexagonal symbol of peace and there’s a panoramic vista across the city from the viewing platform atop the tower.

Vilnius Old Town (Vilniaus Senamiestis)

Legend says that St. Peter and St. Paul's Church (Sv. Apastalu Petro ir Povilo Baznycia) was built on the site of a former pagan temple, but it is known for certain that this masterpiece of Baroque architecture was built on the remains of a wooden church destroyed in the internecine struggles of the 17th century.This Roman Catholic Church was commissioned in 1668 by Lithuanian aristocrat Mykolas Pacas to celebrate a victory over the Russians. It was designed by Italian architect Frediani Giambattista with a relatively austere ocher-and-white Baroque façade that belies its fantastical interior – unusual for a Baroque church, the entire interior is decorated in monotones augmented with rare splashes of color. Master Italian sculptor Pietro Perti worked for 30 years to create the 2,000 snowy-white stucco statues of saints and biblical figures that adorn the nave and aisles, and the macabre Grim Reaper statue and spectacularly ornate central dome should not be missed. Other treasures include the vast altar painting of St. Peter and St. Paul by Panciškus Smuglevicius and the glittering Art Nouveau chandelier in the shape of a silver fishing boat suspended above the main aisle in honor of St. Peter, the “fisher of men.”

St. Peter and St. Paul's Church (Sv. Apastalu Petro ir Povilo Baznycia)

Gediminas Castle Tower is practically all that remains of Upper Castle, the medieval complex that was constructed in Vilnius in the early 14th century. The tower was once the reward that followed an arduous climb up Castle Hill through Vilnius Old Town, but these days a funicular makes the journey up to the castle from the courtyard outside the Cathedral and Lower Castle much easier.
 
Perched at a height of 157 feet (48 m) above the rest of the city, not much of the Upper Castle has survived the civil wars and Russian sieges of Lithuania’s 15th through 17th centuries. After being damaged during the war with Moscow in 1655, the castle lost its strategic importance and was not rebuilt, gradually falling into disrepair. The remaining sturdy and hexagonal Gediminas 
Tower has become a redbrick symbol of peace to the people of Lithuania; it now forms part of the nine-branch National Museum of Lithuania, and inside there is a small exhibition of weapons and armory.

Gediminas Castle Tower (Gedimino Pilies Bokstas)

וילנה

כנסיות גותיות מקסימות, ארמונות מהממים, שילוב של ארכיטקטורה מימי הביניים עם השפעות מאוחרות ואווירה חלומית ברחובות – כל אלו מחכים למבקרים בווילנה, עיר מקסימה של אמנות ויצירה

יעדים פופולריים

יעדים רומנטיים

יעדים זולים