Šnipiškės

Following the historical logic, the best place to start a tour of Šnipiškės is the Green Bridge. Vilnius was born and developed along the Vilnia River on the left bank of the Neris for a long time, and it was difficult to cross the larger river to the right bank. The development of this part of the city was boosted by the construction of the first bridge across the Neris. Although Crusader explorers mention such a structure on the Vilnius–Ukmergė road as early as 1386, no specific data from that time have survived. In 1529, Grand Duke Sigismund the Old commissioned the Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Governor of Vilnius, A. Goštautas, to take care of the construction of a brick bridge over the Neris, a privilege which was granted to the Vilnius town clerk, Ulrich Hosius in 1530. Hosius completed the construction in 1536, but after incurring a lot of personal expenses, he hoped to recover the money through tolls and charged a fee for the use. The bridge had a kind of ‘monopoly’ on crossing the Neris: after its construction, the construction of any other bridge over the Neris from Kernavė to Bistryčia (now in Belarus) was banned. The Hosius Bridge lasted until the war with Moscow in 1655 and was rebuilt several times. After the reconstruction in the mid-18th century, it was painted green, which gave it the name it has today. However, the bridge has been demolished and rebuilt several times since then, changing its appearance, and its current version dates from 1952.

In the 19th century, a well-known person in Vilnius who was a member of the City Council, the chairman of the Sanitary Commission and physician, a figure in orphan care and other charitable organisations – Hilary Raduszkiewicz – set out to build a fine residence. However, the construction of the palace did not go very smoothly, and the architects struggled to fulfil the expectations of the client. Over nearly a decade, the client had to change architects several times due to quarrels with the designers. Eventually, all the construction was completed in 1900, but Raduszkiewicz died in the same year, so regrettably could not enjoy the palace. Later, the complex was used in various ways – by Raduszkiewicz’s relatives, a chemistry school, the ‘Progress’ shoe factory, the ‘Zingeriai’ glass factory, etc. Unfortunately, only a part of the former splendour of the Raduszkiewicz Palace is visible today: in 1959, Kalvarijų Street was widened, asphalted, and a trolleybus line was built, so the western part of the complex was demolished between 1962 and 1963. The building now houses the Lithuanian Chamber of Architects and other institutions. 

The current Šnipiškių Street is the historical beginning of Ukmergės Street – the road along which merchants used to pass through Ukmergė to Riga. In the second half of the 20th century, and the beginning of the 21st century, changes in street alignments led to the renaming of the old road, leaving it pedestrian-only, and the disappearance of the early numbering of the buildings along with this change. The Church of St. Rapolas and the Jesuit monastery were built here in the 18th century, at the height of the Baroque period, when other Baroque ‘sister’ churches in Vilnius were being built or reconstructed, such as St. Catherine’s, Lukiškių, Calvary, and the Missionary Church (Church of the Ascension).

In the course of history, the surrounding buildings of the ensemble have suffered – the monastery was closed during the Tsarist era, and reconstructions were made to suit the needs of the army, the chapel of the Cross-bearing Christ (called the ‘Šnipiškės Jesus’), which was located on the hill by the bridge, and the former parsonage were demolished in the Soviet period. The monastery’s surviving buildings house the Department of Cultural Heritage and other institutions.

A couple of decades after the Second World War, the Vilnius authorities set about creating a vision of a new and modern city centre on the right bank of the Neris. This was something new, as until then, the main development had traditionally taken place on the other side of the river. Between 1974 and 1975, the first large buildings opened their doors: the Vilnius Central Department Store (on the left) and the Domestic Service Complex Buitinio aptarnavimo kompleksas (on the right), with the street between cordoned off from motorised traffic and left as a modern pedestrian passage. The design plans for the ‘Lietuvos’ (now ‘Radisson Blu’) hotel were drawn up by two brothers, Algimantas and Vytautas Nasvytis, as early as 1964, but due to a shortage of funds, the building was only completed in 1983.

In 1968, architects G. Baravykas and V. Vielius designed the museum building according to the fashion of late modernism, but it was only completed in 1980. When the museum closed, it was replaced by the new National Art Gallery in 1993, but due to the poor technical condition of the building, it closed in 1999. The design, tenders, and construction continued until 2009, when it reopened to the public in time for the celebration of ‘Vilnius – European Capital of Culture’. It is now one of the city’s most popular museums, showcasing 20th– and 21st-century Vilnius and Lithuanian art, temporary exhibitions, an Art Information Centre, educational spaces, a bookshop and a café.

Behind Žalgirio Street, there is a large area, much less known than the wooden part of Šnipiškės. In the early Soviet era, until 1962, residents of Vilnius were allowed to build individual houses. However, they were neither overly ornate nor had a comfortable number of square metres. They were all built according to standard designs that were modified; if you take a walk along the adjacent streets, you can see houses that are similar but not identical. Many of the buildings here are decorated with the date of construction, an element that almost disappeared later.

This square was formed in the past at a rather important fork of Kalvarijų and Verkių Streets. Later, it was used as the final stop where trolleybuses turned round, and a typical cinema, ‘Tėvynė’ (now ‘Legendos’ club), was built nearby. In 2010, the square was named after the priest, dissident and member of the Helsinki Group, Bronius Laurinavičius, whose death is shrouded in mystery. He was fatally injured in 1981 by a Maz-503 dump truck, but the circumstances of his death have not been fully explained, and it is believed to have been the work of security services. In 2010, the space was decorated with a sculpture by Antanas Kmieliauskas in order to commemorate the famous priest.

At the end of the 19th century, the need for an Orthodox church arose in the growing district of Šnipiškės, so in 1891 the city authorities allocated land for its construction near Kalvarijų Street. The future Orthodox church was notable for being the first to be built not only as a house of worship but also as a school. Later, Orthodox schools in Naujininkai and Žvėrynas were built according to similar designs. The side annexes of the Orthodox Church of St. Michael the Archangel were adapted to accommodate more than 160 pupils and separate rooms were built for teachers. In addition to the parish faithful and schoolchildren, frequent visitors to the complex were the military personnel of the troops stationed in Šiaurės miestelis (Northern Town), as this was the closest Orthodox church to the barracks. The Orthodox Church lost some of its former land holdings during the nationalisation of 1941; this plot of land was built on to create apartment blocks and garages, so the environment has changed considerably since the late 19th century. However, the house of worship and the annexes remain; they were once a school and are now used as a funeral parlour. The complex was designed by the engineers V. Merezhkovsky and M. Prozorov.

The official founding year of the market is 1903, when the square was first laid out, allowing for the establishment of a permanent market here. It soon became one of the city’s most important shopping areas, as it was easily accessible to those living on the right bank of the Neris. In the interwar period, the market was sometimes open almost 24 hours a day, from 4 am to 9 pm. It was not only food and household goods that were traded, but also horses, which were eagerly purchased by the Polish army – then stationed in the town. During the Soviet era, the market was rebuilt with three new Stalinist-style covered pavilions specialising in meat, milk, and fish. From 2014 to 2015, the market was reconstructed and extended with new modern buildings. Today, Kalvarijų Market offers industrial goods not found elsewhere, high-quality food products straight from the farmers, and antiques worthy of a historian’s attention.

Since the 1960s, developers have been working on visions of a new city centre on the right bank of the river, which did not foresee any future for the wooden part of Šnipiškės; sooner or later, it was not meant to remain. It was precisely because of the huge development planned for the future that Šnipiškės was not demolished during the Soviet era and built up with typical block apartment blocks, although attempts were made to do so. Today, this oasis of an old way of life is stubbornly struggling to cope with the skyscrapers that are rising up, but it is nonetheless becoming more and more interesting for both Vilnius residents and foreign tourists. It is probably not for nothing that it was named ‘Skansen’, Sweden’s spectacular open-air ethnographic museum, and there is another historical name for the district – ‘Šiaudinė’ (‘Straw’). Until the second half of the 19th century, Šnipiškės experienced little development, but a new urban development plan drawn up in 1875 provided the impetus for boosting its growth. The development of the district was supported by Giedraičių Street and the adjacent streets, so most of the surviving wooden houses in the area date back to the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In Šilutės, Krokuvos, Daugėliškio and S. Fino Streets, you can find not only a variety of wooden architecture (in the true sense of the word!) but also fragments of old stone pavements. The original linden trees to be planted have been preserved in S. Fino Street, which is named after Samuel Finn, a prominent Jewish historian and promoter of the Hebrew language.

The origin of the name Piromontas is confusing – there is consensus that a palace must have stood by the river on a hill (mont) in the 18th century, but some people think the name of the district derives from Pira, the local governor (Voivode) from Vitebsk (now in Belarus) who may have built the palace. Others name Pira, the Elder from Rumšiškės as the builder, while others still believe the origins of the district come from Petras, a Cupbearer from Vitebsk (so it is possible to agree on the names of both Petromontas and Piuromontas). Piromont is considered to be the area between Kalvariju, Žvejų, and Rinktinės Streets.

At the end of the 19th century, Józef Montwiłł – an influential Vilnius banker, decided to build a brick housing ‘colony’ in Piromontas, following the example of the Western factory workers’ quarters. The block of flats and cottages in various configurations were designed by Montwiłł’s favourite architects, A. Klein and V. Stypulkovskis. Construction began in 1898 and was completed within a few years. In the depths of the block, you can see expressive brick and wood décor elements. The trusted architectural tandem of Klein and Stypulkovskis also designed other colonies in Vilnius financed by Montwiłł – Rasų, Pohulankos, Aguonų, and probably the famous one – the Lukiškių Colony.