Symbols of Pride

CHAPTER 5:  IN WHICH WE DO YESTERDAY BETTER

Northern Exposure, Day 6:  Vilnius to Kaunas.  What a difference a day makes!  Yesterday's clogged Friday afternoon traffic and limited parking opportunities morphed into a Saturday morning of open spaces and empty streets.  Early rising even offered up a place to park adjacent to Cathedral Square, which would later be one of the busiest locations in Old Town.
Construction of the Vilnius Cathedral, the center of Catholic religious life in Lithuania, began in 1429 to replace the previous one destroyed by fire ten years earlier.  In the 700 intervening years, many additions, alterations and restorations have transformed what began as a Gothic structure into one with a Renaissance influence.  Perhaps the biggest change occurred during the Soviet era when all church property in Lithuania was seized by the government.  As a sign of their contempt for religion, Soviet authorities first used the cathedral as a warehouse.  Later it became an art museum and concert hall before being returned to religious use in 1988.
Many leaders prominent in pre-Soviet Lithuanian history are entombed in the cathedral's crypts and vaults, and in the predominantly Catholic country, the cathedral is viewed as the "heart and soul" of national pride and heritage.  It was on this spot where Lithuania's only king converted to Christianity in 1250, and the earthly remains of St. Casimir, the country's patron saint, lie in a chapel dedicated to his memory.

(Photo from www.travelbaltics.eu)

From Cathedral Square, we could see our next stop.  Another place with a powerful symbolic meaning for Lithuanians, Gediminas Tower is the sole surviving part of what was once the Upper Castle built in the same time period as the cathedral on a hill overlooking the town.  It was here that the tricolor Lithuanian flag was first raised after independence was declared in 1919 and again in 1988.
Today the funicular which usually ferries visitors to the tower was not operating, so we hiked up a stony serpentine path, switchbacking our way from the base of the hill to the top.  Inside the tower, museum exhibits on each floor display models of various Vilnius castles from different periods and offer other insights into Lithuanian history.
A climb up the tower staircase to the top was well-rewarded with panoramic views.  On one side, historic Old Town's ocean of red tile roofs and labyrinthine narrow streets.  On the other, across the River Neris, the steel and glass towers that populate the newer parts of the city.
After the much easier downhill stroll from the tower, we were ready for another climb.  In nearby Kalnai Park, between the banks of the Neris and Vilnia Rivers, we again battled gravity to reach the hilltop home of one of the city's most recognizable monuments, the Three Crosses.
According to local legend, seven Franciscan friars were beheaded on top of this hill in the 14th century for proselytizing.  Originally wooden crosses and a chapel were built on the hill in their memory.  By 1916, concrete crosses were erected to end the replacement cycle of wooden ones, only to be demolished as a religious symbol by Soviet authorities in 1950.  By the time the martyrdom story was debunked by historians, the Three Crosses had become an integral part of the city skyline and symbol of Lithuanian mourning and hope.  The current version of the crosses was rebuilt and unveiled in 1989 during the Lithuanian independence movement.
Back down on level ground, we strolled through Old Town seeking a spot for lunch.  After waiting with bare table more than half an hour at a sidewalk cafe, we finally realized that our server had disappeared, gave up on the meals we had ordered, and strolled over to another of Old Town's venerable old churches.
Actually our destination was a complex of two classically Gothic churches with an associated monastery.  Completed in 1500 and largely unchanged since then, the Church of St. Anne (on the left, above) incorporates 33 different styles of brick, countless arches, ornate towers, and hundreds of flamboyant embellishments created by the best artists of the time.  The imitative neo-Gothic bell tower (R) was added in the 1870s.  Adjacent to and slightly behind St. Anne stands the much larger Church of St. Francis and St. Bernard, consecrated in 1516 as the church of the Bernardine monastery nearby.
As we explored the Bernardine Church, we caught a glimpse in the St. Francis chapel of another of the many weddings we were encountering in Vilnius this Saturday afternoon.  At its conclusion, Ken caught up with the officiating priest and learned that July is prime matrimony season in Vilnius.  Between the two churches and their chapels, an average of ten ceremonies are held each weekend day this time of year.  In fact, we never were able to enter St. Anne's due to weddings.
Thanks to our confusion and parking challenges yesterday, we started today with quite a few places left on our 'to see' list.  Next was a 19th century Italianate building near the city center whose style announces its origin as a home to government offices.  Constructed when Lithuania was part of the Russian Empire, the edifice first served as home of the court of the Vilnius province.  As the Lithuanian territory was passed back and forth between Russia and Germany, the innocuous looking building became home to each occupier's secret police and most evil institutions:  the German Gestapo and the Soviet KGB.
Today the building houses the Museum of Genocide Victims, dedicated to chronicling the 50-year occupation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union, the Lithuanian resistance, and the oppression of the Lithuanian people by the Communist regime.  During its time as the local KGB headquarters, the building's lower floors served as a prison, interrogation rooms and execution center.  Left as they were when the KGB left the country in 1991, the cellar rooms exude an eerie desolation.

(Photo from Wikipedia)

From the darkness of the KGB cellar, we headed off to the colorfully ornate Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit in Old Town.  Just a few yards from the Gates of Dawn, we had somehow missed it yesterday.  Though the sanctuary itself is spectacular, its central feature is the prominent display of the relics of three young missionaries sent from Moscow to Lithuania in the 14th century.  Arrested for proselytizing in public, the trio was arrested and executed by the Grand Duke in 1347.
One last historic site was on our agenda before we finally left Vilnius.  At 1,071 ft., the Vilnius TV tower is the nation's tallest structure.  As Lithuanians hurtled toward freedom in 1990, their Soviet occupiers struggled to maintain dominance.  A critical means to control communication with the Lithuanian people, the TV tower became a symbol of defiance.  In January, 1991, after the freely elected legislature had declared Lithuanian independence, Soviet forces made a last ditch effort to forestall the inevitable.  Tanks approached the TV tower and plowed through lines of unarmed civilians in an effort to re-take the communication tower.  Fourteen peaceful demonstrators were killed in the attack, and their martyrdom is commemorated in a museum exhibit in the tower's first floor.  An elevator whisked us to the top floor, where we found, not more exhibits as we expected, but a revolving restaurant and bar with an unobstructed 360° view of the surrounding area.

By the time we left Vilnius, the clock was pushing 5 p.m., not exactly the late morning departure we had anticipated.  Only a couple of sites we had hoped to see along the journey to Kaunas had to be stricken from our agenda, and we arrived in the country's second largest city by 6:30, where we were greeted with a delightful surprise.  The local Best Western hotel had upgraded us to an oversized corner room stylishly updated and furnished in attractive Mission style with a large bay window seating area overlooking the street.  With breakfast included, the $80 price was quite a bargain.

After checking out a few local sites tomorrow, we'll be driving back to Riga in preparation for our flight to Minsk.

SATURDAY, 29 JULY, 2017
    •  Started in:  Vilnius, Lithuania
    •  Ended in:  Kaunas, Lithuania
    •  Miles driven:  76
    •  Miles walked:  6.78
    •  Weather:  62° to 74°, sunny
    •  Brides:  17
    •  Sidewalk cafes:  64
    •  Grand old churches:  6
    •  Colors in Russian Orthodox decor:  82