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Kaunas city tour (duration - 8 hours)
If you want to visit a really Lithuanian
town, go to Kaunas, the second largest town in the country.
In contrast to cosmopolitan Vilnius, in Kaunas the overwhelming
majority of the population is Lithuanians.
Nobody knows when exactly the town's
history started. The historians suppose that the first settlement
at the crossing of the Nemunas and Neris rivers had existed
already in the 3- 4th century A.D. But the first historical
reference to the town dates back to 1362. In the 15th century,
Kaunas prospered: the town grew rapidly, trade developed and
artisans prospered. However, in the 17- 8th centuries numerous
fires, plague epidemics, and endless wars completely exhausted
the city. Only in the middle of the 19th century, when Kaunas
became a provincial center of Tsarist Russia, the city began
to revive again.
In the 20th century, from 1920 to
1939, Kaunas even was a capital of Lithuania, because Vilnius
at this time was occupied by Polish army.
In Kaunas, the past and the present
are deeply intertwined. The Old Town can be called an open-air
museum of ancient architecture. There are great many architectural
monuments, gothic and baroque churches and fantastically beautiful
buildings of the 18- 19th century.
Kaunas city tour includes:
St George's Church that was built in 1400, after the christening
of Lithuania.
Castle ruins. The fortification was constructed in the 13th
century to repulse the numerous attacks of crusaders. But
even 13-meter high and 2-meter thick walls couldn't withstand
a three-day siege, and in 1362 the knights totally destroyed
the castle. On this place a new fortification was soon erected.
The ruins of its wall and one of the towers you can see nowadays.
The Theological seminary.
The Town Hall Square, the heart of Kaunas Old Town. The Town
Hall traditionally consists of the belfry and the adjoining
hall where municipal meetings took place. The graceful snow-white
gothic tower is often compared with a white swan.
The Jesuit Church (the Church of St Fransis). The first baroque
church was constructed on this place in 1666. In 1825, it
was renamed after Saint Alexander Nevsky and since then the
Orthodox services were carried out there. After World War
II the church was returned to Jesuits, but in 1962 it was
again desecrated and handed over to a vocational school. Only
in 1990 it was finally returned to the believers.
The Cathedral (15- 17th centuries). Originally the cathedral
was built in the gothic style, but after the total reconstruction
in the 17th century its architecture acquired some baroque
and renaissance elements. The cathedral treasures many things
of a great artistic value: paintings, bas-reliefs, ancient
furniture, church plates and clothes for solemn religious
ceremonies.
The church of Vytautas. Built in 1399 by Minorities, the church
is considered to be the oldest brick building in the town.
The Perkunas House (no visits inside). It is one of the biggest
gothic buildings in Lithuania. Perkunas is a pagan thunder
god in Lithuanian mythology. The house has been called so
because in 1818 a statue of this god was found in the wall
of the building, dating back to the 15th century.
All prices are on request.
Please contact us for more information.
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