The Nine Bridges of the Vilnia

It is symbolic that we will be escorted on our journey by the brothers Jonas, Antanas, and Petras Vileišiai, who were dignifiedly seated at the table in February 2018, just before the great centenary of the restored Independence. Petras Vileišis, a contemporary of Dr. Jonas Basanavičius, earned thousands of golden roubles building Belgian steel bridges in the far-reaches of the Russian Empire; he used these funds to support the Lithuanian press, the arts, and social organisations. It was under his leadership and guidance that Lithuanian freedom was restored and nurtured.

The Castle Bridge strengthens and connects the banks of the Vilnia River, which have widened at the confluence. It also marks the beginning of Antakalnis, one of the oldest suburbs of Vilnius. The most famous noble families of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (the Sapiegos, Pacai, Sluškos, Oginskiai) built their spacious summer residences by the river. A century ago, it was the scene of a colourful variety of summer entertainment – landscaped gardens for walks by the river (Chinese and Tivoli), by the palaces of the nobility (Sapiegų and Sluškų Rūmai), countryside restaurants, taverns with billiard halls, a horse racetrack on the site of the current roundabout, large enough for performances by airmen.

The Castle Bridge has been with us since the end of the 19th century – high above the banks of the confluence, protected from the ice by a rectangular stone masonry embankment, and decorated with steel railings cast in Warsaw, decorated with shields of Vytis (the Knight) and the Russian Eagle. It is interesting to note that the strength of the bridges was tested at the time by allowing 600 soldiers with 6 canons or horse-drawn fire engine carts with full water barrels to march across the bridge.

The proliferation of bridges built higher above the riverbed, supported by brick embankments and durable metal structures, was driven by the growth of the city, spurred on by industrial development, and by the cold, snowy winters of the time. The thaws caused floods unprecedented in our time, and the inhabitants of Paplauja (today’s Paupis district) had to leave their homes. The disastrous floods of 1887 and 1888 led to a surge in the construction of bridges in Vilnius.

After passing the Arsenal and the tennis courts, you will reach a pedestrian bridge built in the days of Professor S.B. Jundzilas’ Botanical Garden of Vilnius University. It connected the buildings he constructed for his purposes – the current Royal Dutch Residence on the right bank and the current National Culture Centre on the left. 

After the closure of the Botanical Gardens, the buildings were entrusted to the Governor General of Vilnius. The building on the right bank at the foot of the Three Crosses Hill was rented by the Bajorų Club (Klub Szlachecki) for summer entertainment for the gentry. The Club, like many other clubs in the Russian Empire and Western Europe at the end of the 19th century, gathered noble men by personal recommendation. It provided a space for fellowship, sharing experiences and ideas, and according to contemporaries, playing cards particularly enabled  bonds to be formed. In addition to cards, the club’s entertainment consisted of chess, skittles, billiards, sumptuous food (including the eggs of the rather rare great or common snipe), expensive wine, and long, raucous evenings with cigars, music, dancing, and girls. It was members of the Bajorų Club who set up the first tennis courts on the site and started playing outdoor tennis. 

Much of the University Botanical Garden complex was made of bricks from the destroyed Palace of the Grand Dukes. It is believed that around 40,000 of them are also found in the walls of this building. The building was used for research on garden plants and housed the largest conservatory for rare exotic plants, as well as laboratories, and lecture theatres.

The interior of the Great Auditorium, with its wall hangings and chandeliers, is still a reminder of the days of the pre-1958 record studio. After that, the Lithuanian Folk Culture Centre was established here, its main mission being the research and dissemination of ethnographic cultural heritage, a register of folk music ensembles, and the organisation of major folklore festivals. It is here that the Lithuanian diaspora congregates for the national and children’s song festivals. The ‘Gaudeamus’ Baltic Student Choir Festival, and the international folklore fesitval ‘Baltica’ were also born here

Walking along the left bank of the Vilnia River, we will encircle the territory of Sereikiškių Park and Bernardinų Gardens, which have now merged into a coherent green whole. The gate of the park at the Vilnia roughly marks the boundary where the Botanical Gardens end and the gardens and orchards once cultivated by the Bernardine monks begin. For three decades in the 19th century, a professor of natural science at VU, Stanislovas Bonifacas Jundzilas tended to the Botanical Gardens. Prof. Jundzilas amassed one of the richest collections in Europe – 3,000 trees and outdoor plants, with another 3,700 species growing in the Winter Garden; the garden was decorated with paths, pergolas, and gazebos with bridges over the River Vilna. After Vilnius University was closed down following the 1831 uprising, its wealth was distributed to the universities of Tartu and Kyiv.  

The Bernardine Gardens began to change after the closure of the Bernardine Monastery following the uprising of 1863-1864. The Duma (municipality), which took over the gardens, initially rented them out to the townspeople for growing vegetables. Later it decided to turn them into a park with paths, ponds, and pavilions. It was rented out to businessmen and turned into a variety of entertainment facilities – summer theatres, playgrounds, buffets and beer halls, bowling alleys, funfair-style shooting ranges, and boat trips on the ponds, which were transformed into skating rinks come wintertime.

The octagonal rotunda with its stylish sign ‘Kava, ledai’ harks back to the times when coffee and ice cream were sold there; it serves as a reminder of what the park’s gazebos might have looked like. It was built around 1957 as a Soviet idyllic place to sit in the Youth Garden. At first it was called ‘Pasaka’ (meaning ‘Fairy Tale’), then it became ‘Rotonda’, which eventually accommodated drinkers of cheaper coffee than at the ‘Neringa’ restaurant, and young artists from the Art Institute and young poets from Vilnius University who braved the cheap home-brewed wine (known colloquially as ‘rašalas’ –‘ink’ due to its cheapness and low quality!), which was imbibed from thick tumbler glasses known as ‘granionai’. Later on, the punk community of Vilnius in their tapered trousers and Mohican hairdos tended to congregate here.

Walking past the colourful merry-go-round carousel, let’s try to imagine a summer entertainment oasis. In the surroundings of the former Botanical Gardens, the late 19th and early 20th centuries saw Izaokas Šumonas’ popular restaurant and even an entire amusement park attracting revellers that was accessed through a gate on payment of an entrance fee. Once inside, entertainment ranged from festive family dinners, swings and merry-go-rounds, ornate walks with orchestral sounds, to sumptuous dinners, boisterous vaudeville parties, open-air reception parties on summer terraces, theatres, concerts, intimate gazebos, and organised weekend revelry of themed masquerades, cabarets, and the latest fashion shows which took place throughout the city.

The Vilnia River will also take you to another late 19th-early 20th century site for revellers – the Lipskis’ Swiss Garden with a fountain, restaurant, and stage. It was not inferior to the variety and popularity of the entertainment, and its size and extravagance were even more surprising for weekend pleasure seekers. The seasoned crowd of contemporaries were not limited in their choice of where to have a raucous night on the town at the weekend.

The Bernardine Monastery already had an independent and technologically advanced water supply system in the 18th century: water from a spring well in their garden was distributed through pipes to the monastery’s domestic premises. This led to the first pumping station for the whole city being built on the territory of the Bernardinų Gardens at the beginning of the 20th century, after long deliberations by the Duma on the centralised supply of the city’s water – either by drawing on the river or artesian waters, or by installing pumping stations on the hills (Stalo Hill and even Castle Hill) or at existing wells. It consisted of a network of artesian wells 30-40 m deep and a pumping system. The pumping station is still owned by the Vilnius Water Network, which takes care of the ponds and fountains in Sereikiškės Park.

We leave the park and head towards Užupis by crossing the covered ‘Fluxus’ bridge, which was built in the Soviet era to connect the newly built building with the entire Bernardine Monastery complex (including the church used for workshops and storage), which at the time belonged to the Art Institute. The bridge is now named after the ‘Fluxus’ art movement founded by Jurgis Mačiūnas in New York. After crossing the bridge on the Užupis side, steps on the left lead towards the sidestreet named in honour of Jonas Mekas, a member of ‘Fluxus’; the steps provide a shortcut to the heights of Užupio g.  

Turning right into the monastery courtyard, it is worth reading the short story ‘Tūla’ set in Užupis by the bard-like writer Jurgis Kunčinas who is sometimes recognised as a chronicler of Soviet bohemianism. The family history of the lyrical hero, laid out by his pen, will bring the courtyard of the oldest women’s Bernardine convent and the longest balcony in Vilnius to life by describing their colours, smells, and sounds. The concrete ‘Bevardis’ Bridge (with no name) allowed the materials for the construction of the Art Institute to be transported and was then left standing to meet the needs of the residents. A little higher up the river, a unique covered wooden arched gallery connected the banks in the 18th and 19th century. This was the route used by the Bernardine nuns to enter Bernardinų Church and directly access the organ balcony, so that they could attend the service unnoticed. The gallery and part of the monastery itself were swept away in the mid-19th century by the spring flood of the River Vilnia, which changed both the riverbed and the habits of the locals.

The lyrical hero of ‘Tūla’ could also take you on a ride along the entertainment trails of Soviet youth – the banks of the Vilnia River, the unique picturesque courtyards, and the dens of the legendary Užupis bohemia. In one courtyard on Užupio g., the door of Zenonas Šteinys’ semi-basement was open to all lost souls, behind which the gloomy everyday life would disappear. According to local residents, the Užupis ‘Angel’ is a monument dedicated to this artist.

The construction of reliable stone bridges at the end of the 19th century was the result of the growth of the city, which was overwhelmed by industrial development, and spurred on by the flooding caused by the thawing of cold and extremely snowy winters.  

Bernardinų Bridge is the oldest of the three most solid bridges in Užupis and is located at the end of Malūnų (Mill) Street. It was finally strengthened after a flood in 1880; it was only by creating stone abutments and reinforcing the banks that the bridge was successfully anchored for centuries.  

With the growth of industry in Paplauja (now the Paupis quarter) in the 19th century, traffic on Malūnų g. was so heavy that the city council drew up plans to widen it. However, the proposed projects were actively opposed by the local inhabitants, who were quick to register and construct additional buildings, or to complain about the unjust shrinking of their properties. 

The waterbank between the Bernardinų and Užupio bridges is part of the history of the community in this district. During the Soviet era, Užupis was home to romantics who longed for a piece of the countryside within the city, freethinking artists and poets who were not registered on lists for a state-provided apartment, homeless troublemakers who had served their sentences, and art students looking for a place to express themselves. The artistic self-expression of these freethinkers has exploded here, and thanks to them, the unique spirit of the area is still preserved here.

What makes the oldest suburb of Vilnius unique is the Vilnia stream that encircles it on three sides, as well as the panoramic views of the Old Town from Altana Hill and the Hill of Three Crosses; moreover, the towers of the Vilnius churches form a circle: Saints Anne and Bernardine, the Orthodox Cathedral of the Assumption of the Mother of God (“like a fat wrestler”), the St. Virgin Maria’s Church – known as ‘Ramintoja’ (with its unique single tower), the Crown of St. Casimir, and the sadly empty Missionary and Visitation Monasteries.

And since 1 April 1997, this neighbourhood is unique in its status as the independent Užupis Republic. The main venue for the commemoration of this day is ‘Užupio Kavinė’, located at the beginning of Užupio g., near the central bridge of Užupis. The founders of the Užupis Republic called this place a ‘Barliament’ (a parliament in a bar) because all the republic’s most important decisions are made there. It was once a mill turned by the power of the Vilnia River; the mill ground flour for the bishops of Vilnius and, after the churches and monasteries were closed down, for the Russian governors-general. Later, as the city centre grew closer and industry moved out to the suburbs, it was a haven for students of the Art Institute. As the Lithuanian independence movement began to awaken and emerge, the café became the birthplace of the Užupis Blues through the guitar of Vytautas Kernagis and the Užupis Constitution under the pen of Romas Lileikis and Tomas Čepaitis; it now enjoys the honourable status of a Barliament.

Due to the city’s most important mill and the salt transport route from the East, a wooden bridge was known in this place since the construction of the Vilnius defensive wall in the 16th century. Saviour’s Gate was built of stone near the bridge on the Old Town side. At that time, the river’s heavy current hid the location of the bridge and gate from us. The steel bridge standing nowadays was inspired by one of the worst floods of 1888 and took 13 long years to design, finance, and build.  

It would be perfectly Užupis-like to saunter under the Užupio Bridge, ambling along the thin ledge of the embankment at the risk of getting your feet wet, while looking around the romantic courtyards crammed with picturesque warehouses and ancient cobblestones.

It would be just as Užupis fun to sneak in and out of the gateways. On Paupio g., after passing the Constitution Wall, you can cut through the yard and head towards the Vilnia. From there, it’s fun to walk along the riverside from the Monmartre pedestrian bridge, which leads to Tymo Market (built in the Soviet era to bring heating pipes to Užupis), and the old Paupio g. bridge over the river. On the bank, under the tree canopy, you will find: the terrace of the family restaurant ‘Šeimos restoranėlis’, steps from different ages leading to the water’s edge and the remnants of earlier ones that have been washed away, the welcoming open doors to the inner courtyards and secret entrances, the enviably lush courtyards and inviting balconies. The Paupio Bridge will bring you back to the left bank – the Paupys Quarter, once Paplauja and now changing the face of all of Vilnius.

The bridge connecting Paupio g. over the river with metal trusses was completed in 1882 and was necessary for easy access from Paplauja along Malūnai Street towards the Neris waterway.

In the middle of the Paupis quarter, there are a few old buildings left, reminiscent of Paplauja’s multi-layered industrial past. The premises of the already mentioned Lipskis’ Brewery, the largest brewery in Vilnius, and the surrounding area were, in the 1950s, the site of the ‘Skaiteks’ factory for electrical measuring devices. The first of its kind in the Soviet Union, it produced 3.2 million different devices for measuring electrical currents and money-counting devices every year; it also patented improvements to them and was considered a model factory in terms of the working environment and the quality of the production.

After privatisation, the plant fell into rapid decline but still continued to function, and while it tried to withstand the changing conditions by adapting to markets other than the Soviet one, it did not manage to weather the 2008 crisis and went bankrupt.

The Paupys quarter is like a town in the city, with its central square and fountains to induce childlike joy; it also boasts a market and cinema, as well as places for a decent coffee and exceptional delicacies. It is increasingly changing the lifestyle and habits of families in Vilnius as they explore, searching for delicious experiences, go jogging, or just go for a pleasant stroll.

Only five years ago, another legacy of Soviet industry – the imposing yellow-brick monster of the Vilija Industrial Association – dominated the landscape with its dark windows overlooking the steep right bank of the Vilnia River and the ruins of the ‘Vilija’ underwear factory. The company wove and sewed Soviet lingerie. Now, the windows of the triple-height ‘Užupio krantinės’ buildings shine from the tamed slope of the Vilnia towards the sunset.

The small concrete bridge connecting the banks of the river before the changes was dubbed the ‘Bridge of the Dead’ due to its proximity to the Bernardinų Cemetery. When the embankments were renovated, the location of the new bridge was aligned with the promenades of the Paupio quarter and merged into a single walking route.

It would be very in keeping with the spirit of Užupis to leave the newly paved paths of the quayside waterfront and go up the Vilnia along the beaten paths of the Bernardinų Cemetery. They will lead you to a hidden corner of the cemetery slope, unreached by civilisation, and the rather rugged and wild Vilnia beach – shallow enough for wading and padding, as well as being a comfortable spot to shelter from the heat.