Reflections of Ukrainian History

We will start from the Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, where many literary treasures related to Ukrainian history are kept. Among them is the world’s only surviving intact edition of the ‘Capitolium perennis gloriae’, dedicated to Ivan Mazepa, the Cossack Hetman of Zaporizhzhia. He betrayed Tsar Peter I of Russia in order to unite Left-Bank and Right-Bank Ukraine, for which he was condemned; his name became synonymous with being a traitor, and attempts were made to wipe out any trace of his memory. The publication ‘Capitolium perennis gloriae’ is included in the UNESCO Lithuanian National Register of Memory of the World Programme and is kept in the Rare Documents Section. The library itself is housed in one of the palaces of the Tyszkiewicz family, whose noble ancestors descended from the Principality of Kiev. 

The Monument to King Mindaugas reminds us of one of our first contacts with the Ukrainian land. The first diplomatic relations with the lands of western Ukraine were established at a time when Kievan Rus was weakening and the Lithuanian state was beginning its consolidation phase. The earliest contact may have been a treaty signed in 1219 by five Lithuanian dukes, including Mindaugas, with the rulers of Volhynia – Daniel and Vasylko. At that time, an agreement had to be sought on how to repel the attacks of the Mongol-Tartars. And in 1252, Daniel, Duke of Galicia-Volhynia, married the niece of Mindaugas, the future King of Lithuania. A little later, Mindaugas’ daughter also married Daniel’s son. 

King Mindaugas’s ties with the Ukrainian lands continued under Grand Duke Gediminas. Gediminas used diplomacy to maintain his influence in these lands, while his son Algirdas, who defeated the Mongol-Tartars at the Battle of Blue Waters in 1363, strengthened the GDL’s influence in Right-Bank Ukraine. The heritage of Kievan Rus’ had a profound impact on the culture of the GDL. The language spoken on Ukrainian soil was later adopted by the GDL Chancellery. One of the most important aspects of the common agreement was that “we do not change the old and we do not innovate”. To underline the good relations between Lithuania and Ukraine, the Ukrainian leaders (Leonid Kuchma was the President at the time) donated granite for the monument’s pedestal and even brought it to the Lithuanian border free of charge.

Taras Shevchenko, the most famous Ukrainian poet of all time, is honoured in several places in Vilnius. The building of the Faculty of History of Vilnius University was once the home of Jan Rustem’s painting workshop. After being sent to Vilnius by his master, Colonel Pavel Engelhart, Adjutant General of Vilnius, fifteen-year-old Taras Shevchenko studied art here. It was only in Vilnius that Engelhart noticed the young man’s drawings. Why was Shevchenko allowed to study art? Probably out of Engelhart’s pride in knowing that he had a servant who knew how to paint portraits. The memorial plaque we see today was unveiled on 9 March 1997, while the first plaque on this building was unveiled in 1961 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the poet’s death. The adjacent Faculty of Philology houses the Shevchenko Auditorium, which was inaugurated during the visit of the Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko to Vilnius in 2006. 

The memorial plaque is located on the street and is accessible to people with disabilities.

Professor Anatolij Nepokupnyj, a Ukrainian academic and researcher on the life of the poet and painter Taras Shevchenko established that this building was the home of the Engelhart family, which was also served by Taras, which is why it is also marked with a memorial plaque. The young man secretly painted in the stables near the house. The building is now a supermarket. 

On Paupio Street, there is a wall with a unique document – the Constitution of Užupis. It has been translated into many languages of the world. The Ukrainian version of the Užupis Constitution was unveiled on 15 February 2015 in a ceremony when the anthems of Užupis and Ukraine were sung. The unveiling of the Constitution was attended by Šarūnas Matulevičius, the initiator of the civic movement ‘For Democracy in Ukraine’, and the Prime Minister of Užupis, Sakalas Gorodetskis. During the celebrations, Paupio Street was symbolically blocked with barricades in memory of the Maidan events.

The courtyard features a sculpture depicting Jan Karol Chodkiewicz who was a famous 17th-century nobleman of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and renowned military commander (sculptor – Martynas Gaubas). Although Chodkiewicz was not of Ukrainian origin, Ukrainian soldiers fought shoulder-to-shoulder alongside the soldiers of the GDL in the Battle of Khotyn against the Ottomans. Their commander, Hetman Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny, suffered the same fate as J. K. Chodkiewicz. The commander of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was killed in battle, while the Cossack Hetman died of his wounds a year later in Kiev. For his participation in the Battle of Khotyn and his victory, Sahaidachny was awarded the sword of King Władysław Wasa, adorned with diamonds and scenes from the life of Solomon. In the 21st century, a Ukrainian warship was named after P. Konashevych-Sahaidachny. It did not surrender to the Russian troops that occupied Crimea in 2014 and managed to return to Ukraine. On 3 March 2022, the crew sank the ship to prevent it from being captured by Russian aggressors. This site celebrates the military alliance between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Ukraine.

The first Orthodox church was built here by Grand Duke Algirdas of Lithuania for his second wife Uliana. After the victorious Battle of Orsha in 1514, the Orthodox church was built here by Konstanty Ostrogski, a nobleman from the Ukrainian lands. The Muscovite soldiers used to say that he was a brother in faith but a terrible enemy in battle. As a Ruthenian in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, he was Orthodox, but loyal to the Catholic ruler. Ostrogski was considered the patron of the Orthodox of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the indispensable military commander of the GDL. His famous victory in the Battle of Orsha saved Vilnius from being attacked by the Muscovite army. As a talented military tactician and strategist, he may have been the first in Europe to use an artillery ambush during the Battle of Orsha. He is buried in the Pechersk Lavra (Cave) Monastery in Kyiv.

Vilnius Town Hall was transformed into Vilnius Theatre in the 19th century. On 10 October 1854, Piotr Zelinger, a singer from Lviv, made his debut at the theatre in his hometown when he was only 16. He sang in Vilnius for ten years and was the first tenor when he arrived here. Zelinger helped shape the theatre’s repertoire, and he was the first to perform the role of ‘Jontek’ in S. Moniuszko’s opera ‘Halka’. He died in Vilnius and was buried in the Bernardine Cemetery. Another music world celebrity who performed in Vilnius and also found his eternal resting place here was Marek Sokolowski, often referred to as the best guitarist in Europe, the “Paganini of the Guitar”. He was born in 1818 near Zhytomyr and died in Vilnius; his grave can be found in Rasos Cemetery.

This place is associated with Meletius Smotrytsky, a famous man born in Khmelnytskyj Oblast, Ukraine. He studied at Vilnius University and in Germany. He published Orthodox theological works at the Vilnius Holy Spirit Printing House. In 1615, in Vilnius, he translated the ‘Postilla’ from Church Slavonic into Ruthenian and wrote ‘Slavonic Grammar with Correct Syntax’. The Slavs continued to learn from Smotrytsky’s grammar until the 19th century. Smotrytsky took vows as a monk and lived in a monastery near the Orthodox Church from 1616-1618. Later, he was appointed Bishop of Polotsk and made pilgrimages to Constantinople and Jerusalem. Towards the end of his life he converted from Orthodox to Unitarian (Greek Catholic). He is believed to have been deeply affected by the violent death of Josephat Kuntsevych. Smotrytsky died at the Derman Unitarian Monastery in Ukraine, where he served in the last years of his life. He made significant contributions to Ruthenian national consciousness and Slavic philology.

This is probably the most important place for Ukrainians in Vilnius. This church, then the Orthodox Church, was funded by Konstanty Ostrogiski after the famous Battle of Orsha. It is also important for the identity of the Ukrainian faith. Saint Josephat Kuntsevych, a saint of the Basilian Order, served here for a long time. He is the only Ukrainian Catholic saint. He joined the Basilian Order in Vilnius and was an active herald of the reunification of the Church. It should be said that Kievan Rus’ was Christianised in 988, before the church schism. Therefore, when Kuntsevych became a Unitarian bishop, he chose the slogan: “And all things shall become one. “He died a martyr’s death in Vitebsk in 1623. His remains now rest in the altar of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. There is a Vilnius legend related to Kuntsevych. A wicked woman who died used to haunt him at night. The saint used to pray at night by tracing a circle of blessed chalk to keep her from touching him. In the end, his prayers defeated the forces of evil.

On 3 December 1514, the Grand Hetman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Konstanty Ostrogski, entered Vilnius victoriously through this gate, defeating the army of the Grand Duke of Moscow, Vasily III, and thus protecting Vilnius from a direct enemy invasion. People from what is now Ukraine used to come to the city through this gate.

The last stop on route celebrating the links between Ukrainians and Vilnius is the monument to T. Shevchenko that was unveiled on 3 September 2011 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of his death. The ceremony was attended by the Speakers of the Lithuanian Seimas and the Ukrainian Rada, Irena Degutienė and Volodymyr Lytvya. The monument was designed by the sculptor Vitaliy Andrianov. The talent of the artist and poet T. Shevchenko and his words and poems dedicated to the city of Vilnius were showcased in Vilnius. The sculpture was erected on the initiative of the Lithuanian Ukrainian community.