Heads up – Look up! Part II

The Vilnius Cathedral Bell Tower Clock is the first public clock in Lithuania. In 1672, a large, German-made cogwheel mechanism was placed in the tower. Can you calculate how many years this clock has been telling the time for Vilnius residents and visitors? 

Back then, minutes were not that important to people, so every quarter of an hour was enough to know the time. Have you ever noticed that the bell tower clock only shows the hours? 

At the very top of the tower, two bells – the Great Bell and the Small Bell – tell the time. These are the two bells that tell you exactly what time it is. The hammer strikes the small bell every 15 minutes: one strike at 15 minutes, two strikes at 30 minutes, three strikes at 45 minutes, and four strikes at the change of the hours. After a short break, the larger bell is struck. It strikes as many strokes as there are hours.

The tail of the hour hand is decorated with a moon symbol. This is a historical relic from a time when clocks also showed the phases of the moon (new moon, pre-full moon, full moon, full moon, full moon, and the full moon). 

Since 2005, the clock’s movement has been replaced by a computer, which still controls the clock’s hands and bells.

At the entrance to the Palace of the Grand Dukes, find the sundial as an artistic highlight. 

Did you know that the sundial was the first known time-keeping device?

Now look for the Latin entry Semper Sol In Corde Lituaniae Luceat. In English it means: “May the sun always shine in the heart of Lithuania.” 

This sundial on the Palace of the Grand Dukes started displaying the time on 25 July 2012. The wall is painted with sgraffito. This is a wall decoration technique where the surface is covered with several layers of different coloured plaster. The top layer is then cut off in sections with a sharp instrument, revealing the underlying plaster and creating a multi-coloured ornamental composition.

Find the metal sun and gnomon in the centre of the clock. A gnomon is a rod-pointer, a device for measuring the position of the Sun. The shadow of the rod is used to determine the actual noon when the shadow is shortest. At that time, the shadow coincides with the geographic meridian of that location. All sundials are based on the gnomon principle. 

Do you see the Zodiac signs on both sides? These hourly and calendar Zodiac lines have been calculated for the latitude of Vilnius using computer programmes. 

Now go to Pilies Street and stop at house number 8.

Find the 1.2 m wide sign above the door, which shows hands holding a plate of pancakes! This decorative sculpture was created to advertise the former pancake shop on the site and to replace the old sign ‘Pancakes’. The pancake shop was particularly popular with students because of its low prices and home-cooked food.

The same sculptor also created the sculpture ‘Elektra’, which can be seen from afar, on the roof of the Museum of Energy and Technology, Rinktinės g. 2, near the Neris.

Stop in front of St Johns’ Church. Look above the skull and find the little balcony with a metal fence and a canopy. Formerly, there was a figure of Christ the Saviour enclosed by an iron fence attached to the masonry; above the figure, there was an iron canopy with a duke’s crown and a crucifix. And can you see what is on the canopy now? 

We have already seen two clocks today. Find another way to measure time – the hourglass. An hourglass (sometimes also called an egg timer) shows a fixed amount of time it takes for sand to move from one part of the container to another – it consists of a glass container in the form of two cones connected by a narrow opening at the top, into which a fixed amount of sand is poured. What do you think this hourglass might mean here at this particular site?

Continue into the courtyard of Pilies g. 22.

Find the bust of the poet Juljusz Słowacki (Julijus Slovackis) on the wings of a swan. The bust was unveiled here in 1927. 

The Polish inscription Tu mieszkał Juljusz Słowacki translated into English means: ‘Here lived Julijus Słowacki’. Słowacki lived on the second floor of this building with his mother and stepfather, Professor August Ludwik Beck. His mother used to organise musical evenings, literary readings, and discussions.

Here is an excerpt loosely translated into English from ‘The Song of the Lithuanian Legion’, which Słowacki wrote in Polish.

“Lithuania lives! Lithuania lives!

The sun shines for her with glory,

So many hearts beat for Lithuania,

So many hearts have stopped beating.

You must be a boulder*! You must be a boulder

Suffer these chains rusted with mouldy mildew,

We took revenge for them with iron,

And free thought, and free song.

The enemies trembled,

The song is gloomy

Those Samogitian horns.

Jesus Mary! March forward for freedom! Hop, hop, urra!”

• A big, strong rock

Continue towards the House of the Signatories

Stand in front of the House of the Signatories, and look up to the right by the signboard on the side of the building opposite. Look at the large photo of the signatories. 

What’s written in large letters? 

This stand displays the 19 February 1918 issue of the ‘Lietuvos Aidas’ newspaper, in which the Act of Independence of 16 February was published. This issue was actually printed earlier and transported for distribution. In this way, about 70 copies of the newspaper were circulated.

Before you go any further, take a look at the House of the Signatories, where you can see figures representing agriculture and fishing on the second floor, two human heads on the third floor, and the year of construction on the weathervane, 1895.

The next stop is at the adjacent house – Pilies g. 28.

This building is also decorated with a man and a woman’s head on the facade. The façade is the outer, front side of the building. This building is decorated with mouldings and decorative elements. Try to identify them: 

• voliuta – a decorative architectural ornament in the form of a spiral or spiral, with a circle, called an eyelet, in the centre; 
• garlands – a braid of plant leaves, flowers and fruit, hanging from the ends and tilted down in a semicircle. 

Try to find and identify such elements in other buildings. 

Head towards Pilies g. 34.

You can immediately spot the decorative sculptural balls on the roof, right? 

Until the mid-18th century, the house belonged to a tailor’s shop. After a fire in 1748, it was rebuilt and extended, and subsequently repaired several times. During the reconstruction at the beginning of the 20th century, the third floor was added, a turret was added, and the façade took on modern features. Try to identify some of the architectural elements that are characteristic of the modern style:

• bay window – a projecting semi-circular or angular part of a building wall with windows; sometimes extending over several floors; 
• cornice – a projection above a door, window or upper part of a building. Decorative sculptural spheres on the cornice.

Continue towards Didžioji g. 4.

The Chodkiewicz (Chodkevičius) family was among the most powerful and influential noble families of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 15th-17th century.

First, find the vulture with a sword – this is the coat of arms of the Chodkiewicz family.

Raise your eyes higher – how many faces can you count under the balconies?

Now, count how many portraits there are on the wall. Unfortunately, historians can’t yet tell us whose pictures they are. 

Check the notice board to see what exhibition is on. Maybe it sounds interesting and you’ll visit the Vilnius Picture Gallery next time you’re here? 

Continue towards Hotel Pacai.

Look at the top of the building. What do you see? It’s the coat of arms of the Pac family. 

Since ancient times, the red field of the shield has depicted two silver (white) lilies in a ring, one facing downwards and the other facing upwards. Above the helmet and crown are five peacock feathers and the same lily, which symbolises the invincibility of the knights, while the peacock feathers represent wisdom. In the heraldry of European countries, the stylised lily is a symbol of supreme power, purity, and chastity, often associated with the Virgin Mary. Heraldry is a system of rules for the creation and use of coats of arms. If you had a family coat of arms, what would be the main symbol? 

This palace was considered one of the most magnificent buildings in the capital when it was ruled by the Grand Hetman of the GDL, Michał Kazimierz Pac (Mykolas Kazimieras Pacas). At the time, the palace was transformed into a Baroque palace and served as a hotel.

Looking at Vilnius City Hall from afar, we can see the coat of arms and the flag of Vilnius, depicting the patron saint of Vilnius, St. Christopher. 

You can also look at the Town Hall and learn the word ‘symmetry’ – this means when the parts on either side of the dividing line are equal in size, shape, and position. Divide the building by an imaginary line down the middle. The building to the left and to the right of the coat of arms of Vilnius is the same and has the same number of columns, right? 

Now, climb the stairs to the Town Hall columns. Lift your head and find your face among the ‘flowers’. The flowers are the motif of the rosette, a stylised ornament in the shape of a flower blossom. 

Whose face do you think it is? 

Next time you’re at the Cathedral, you can look for the faces staring back at you there too! 

Continue along Town Hall Square and turn onto Stiklių Street.

The building at Stiklių g. 1 is the former Church of the Resurrection of Christ, whose Gothic arches have been perfectly preserved to this day.

Note the red brick Gothic masonry fragment and the windows in the wall on the Stiklių Street side. This is a former Gothic Orthodox brick church built in the 16th century.

Find the black bricks. These bricks are burnt bricks (clinker bricks), which were used to reinforce the masonry and also to create a certain decorative pattern.

Note also the Gothic method of binding the walls. What is it? Think about it. 

Yes, yes. One brick looks long, one looks short, one looks long and one looks short again. If you see a red-brick house in the Old Town, you can try to tell if it is Gothic. 

In the 18th century, the church was converted into a residential building. In total, there are about 280 houses in Vilnius Old Town that show signs of Gothic architecture, most of which have preserved their Gothic cellars and parts of their walls.

Next, enter Medeinė’s courtyard, where you will meet Medeinė, the goddess of forests and hunting, who is riding on the back of a bear. Now lift your head, look around and find out when this house was built. And what are the initials? 

This three-storey house was reconstructed in the 1890s by Beras Eliashberg, a merchant of the Second Guild, who decorated it with his initials – B and E in Russian are Б и Е.

What are your initials? 

What work or object have you made with your hands that bears your initials? If not, what would you like to make and add your initials to? 

Next, take a closer look and explore the street names on your own, check out the paintings on the houses and the sculptures because the Glass Quarter has so much!

Konstantinas Sirvydas Square also has a children’s playground, which may be of interest to the youngest walkers. 

Your next stop is Šv. Jono g. 3.

Toliau atidžiai žvalgykitės ir savarankiškai patyrinėkite gatvių pavadinimus, piešinius ant namų, skulptūras, nes Stiklo kvartale tiek visko daug!

Konstantino Sirvydo skvere yra ir vaikų žaidimo aikštelė, kuri gali sudominti mažiausius pasivaikščiojimo dalyvius.

Like the Pacai Hotel, this building is decorated with the Pac family coat of arms, which you have seen before. This building is also the former ‘Pacai’ (Pac family) Palace. It is now the seat of the Polish Embassy. 

The façade of this building is decorated with mouldings. Identify at least three meanings of the ornaments, and decide which motifs dominate.

Yes, this building is decorated with motifs of arms and weapons because the famous Pac family can also boast military achievements. 

Continue to Vilnius University (from the Universiteto Street side).

In the library courtyard, raise your eyes to find planetary symbols and astronomical instruments. 

This is the former astronomical observatory building, the oldest part of the university complex. The main decorations of the building are the pilasters with mathematical and astronomical instruments. A pilaster is a vertical projection of a wall (in this case, between windows) in the form of a column or pillar. Try to think about what these instruments could measure? 

At the top of the Administration Building, on the front of the Astronomical Observatory, the Sun is the University’s main star, with its planetary entourage of Saturn, Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. Can you identify the symbols of all the planets? 

Our last stop is the Square named after Simonas Daukantas.

We invite you to end your walk with a unicorn! In the centre of the Presidential building, right in the middle of the top of Simono Daukanto Square, we find the coat of arms of the Lithuanian state.

The national coat of arms on the presidential flag is decorated with shields. Throughout the ages, they have been angels, warriors, various animals, mythological and other creatures. 

Who is guarding the shield on the right and left now? Take a guess!

The shield is held by a white unicorn on the right and a griffin of the same colour on the left, standing on a white pedestal. The animals have golden arms and red tongues.

The griffin and the unicorn have been known in Lithuanian state heraldry since the early 16th century. The grifin is a hybrid of an eagle and a lion. It symbolises the vigilance and watchfulness of the eagle and the strength and pride of the lion. The mythical unicorn resembles a foal, but has cloven hooves, a beard, and a golden spiral horn in its forehead, where its mind is hidden. It is a symbol of intelligence, tolerance and innocence. In the past, both mythological animals have been used in heraldry and also in the life of the Church, and were favoured by astrologers and alchemists.