Vilnius is situated on the confluence of two rivers. It is the only city on the East European Plain featuring elements of relief characteristic of cities spreading on hillsides and river valleys. For hundreds of years the builders of Vilnius have been working in harmony with nature: towers were built atop hills, streets were laid out twisting up and down the hills and sometimes even houses were bower according to the street curves. Thus, unlike in most medieval European towns, during the 13th through the 17th centuries an irregular network of streets has formed in Vilnius. Its structure resembles the veins of a plant's leaf or the mouth of a river: there are no straight lines, the streets widen at the crossings flowing one into each other, sguares are of the form of an extended triangle. Such "bionic" structure is characteristic of ancient Lithuanian settlements. Every street has multi-plane perspectives closed by towers or domes rising behind the houses. One more feature characteristic of the Old Town should be noted: its unique streets are lined up with most ordinary houses and brick walls, without possesing a single significant structure.

View at Vilnius' Old town

Churches of Vilnius

Vilnius became the capital of the ancient Lithuanian State - the Grand Duchy of Lithuanian - in the 14th or even in the 13th century. Representatives of various European cultures made Vilnius their home. Among them were German merchants and craftsmen, immigrants from Poland and Bohemia, Russians, Byelorussians, Karaites, Tartars and Jews. As Lithuanian Grand Dukes were tolerant of the believers of other confessions, Russian Orthodox churches, synagogues, mosques began to appear beside Catholic churches. Yet their architecture had many common features. The Gothic and Baroque styles prevailed among Russian Orthodox churches, whereas synagogues were built in the Renaissance style. At that time there were many monasteries and palaces in the town. In 1387 Vilnius was granted the Magdeburg Rights. However, the magistrate had under its jurisdiction only a part of the city. The other part was under the bishop's rule. The diverse administrative and confessional structure found reflection in the town's architecture. Eastern Europe, is a blend of cultures of Eastern and Western Europe.