KAUNAS City of confluence Kaunas is the second largest city in Lithuania, first mentioned in an old manuscript of 1361. It is situated in the valley of two longest rivers of Lithuania, the Nemunas and the Neris. The town itself became an example of a confluence of people and cultures, an attractive blend of architecture and nature. The town has seen many ups and downs, but has stayed a source of forces for resistance, a guard of national identity, and has once actually been the temporal capital of Lithuania.

The Nemunas and Neris

Kaunas old castle

Fragments of the past Much earlier, until the beginning of the 15th Century, Kaunas Old Castle was an important resistance post against the attacks of the Teutonic Order. After the victory of joint Lithuanian-Polish forces in the Zalgiris (Grunwald) battle in 1410, during the reign of Vytautas the Great, the Grand Duke of Lithuania (1392-1430), the period of true prosperity started. At that time Lithuania had already acquired Christianity. Kaunas was given the Magdeburg rights and enjoyed the years of development in trade, crafts, culture, and extensive contacts with Western Europe.

In a stroll around the Old Town one encounters numerous fragments of late Gothic. It can be seen in fortification, e.g. the Old Castle, religion and in public-and dwelling buildings. In many places Gothic gave way to later architectural trends. Manifestations of the Renaissance style can be found in the architecture of Holy Trinity Church and the Monastery. When Baroque style started to dominate in the Lithuanian-Polish state, Lithuania lived through a contradictory period. The splendid churches and monasteries marked the victory of Catholicism over Reformation movement. But an Evangelical-Lutheran Church, a a nice example of the late Renaissance period, survives inside the Old town.

Holy Trinity church and Bishops palace

Old Kaunas Nevertheless, during the 17th to 18th Centuries a lot of splendid Baroque buildings were erected in Lithuania. A Baroque interior is characteristic of many Gothic churches of Kaunas. The city symbol, the white Town Hall, is mainly Baroque, possessing trends of the Gothic, Renaissance and Classicism. As Kaunas itself, it accumulated the best features of its Golden Ages.

The result of the hard wars with neighbouring countries was the final division of the state Lithuania-Polish in favour of Russia, Prussia and Austria, in 1795. Kaunas and the largest part of Lithuania were subordinated to Russian Empire for more than one century. The Cathedral