The Stones of Vilnius

In 1907, famous figures of the country (Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Jonas Basanavičius, etc.) planned to build the House of the Nation on the hill – the cultural centre of the whole of Lithuania. This was announced at the founding meeting of the Lithuanian Scientific Society in 1907. A plot of land was bought, and money was raised for this purpose, but the First World War prevented the implementation of the idea. In 2007, 100 years later, a memorial stone was unveiled on the hill with the inscription ‘100 years of the idea of the House of the Nation’.

One of the most famous stones in Žvėrynas is the stone located on the right bank of the Neris with the Pillars of Gediminas carved in a circle. The stone was discovered in the riverbed in 1958 by Vladas Šaulys, a local historian. It is believed by historians that the Pillars of Gediminas may have been carved in the Žvėrynas stone as early as the 15th century. Such a stone may have marked the boundaries of the Grand Duke’s lands in the Vilnius area. 

In 1988, the Žvėrynas Stone was included in the list of archaeological monuments of significance to the Republic, and in 1992 it was included in the list of Lithuanian Cultural Heritage. 

Near the pedestrian bridge in Žvėrynas, there is a stone reminding us that in 1857 Count Konstanty Tyszkiewicz made an expedition on the Neris River. He described his impressions in his book ‘The Neris and its Banks’, which focuses a lot on the banks of the Neris in Žvėrynas. The stone was unveiled in 2007, on the 150th anniversary of the expedition, on the initiative of the community of this district, but finding it will not be so easy!

In Žvėrynas district, where the present-day Bebrų Street and Žvėrynas Park are now located, there has always been a marshy area with natural spring waters. The springs that gushed out near Bebrų Street fed a short stream that flowed down the marshy valley of the old river valley to the west and flowed down the slope of the Neris valley into the river Neris. This stream was formerly called ‘Šaltupis’ (‘Coldstream’). 

In the 16th century, the Šaltupis was dammed and fed a water mill belonging to the Radziwiłł (Radvilas) noble family, who transported grain from the surrounding area. The ponds of the Žvėrynas mill and the building of the water mill have been preserved to this day (Latvių g. 64). There is no sign of the Šaltupis River itself – it was canalised during the Soviet era, and today flows through pipes underground all the way to the Neris.

Just upstream of Bebrų Street, the Žvėrynas community erected a small stone monument to the former stream. 

On 23 November 2001, on the 150th anniversary of the birth of Jonas Basanavičius, a memorial stone was unveiled at this school named after Jonas Basanavičius – a physician, scientist, and signatory of the Act of Independence of 16 February 1918. The shape of the grey stone is somewhat reminiscent of the outline of the Lithuanian state. The sculptor Mindaugas Tendziagolskis sculpted the portrait of Jonas Basanavičius and his words, which became the school motto: “Let us not forget, brothers, that after God and our parents, it is our homeland of Lithuania that we must love the most”. 

Szymon Konarski (Simonas Konarskis) was a participant in the 1830-1831 uprising against the Tsarist government. He was arrested and imprisoned in 1838, sentenced to death, and publicly executed in 1839 near the Pohulanka outpost. It was not until almost a century later, in 1924, that political circumstances allowed the hero’s name to be commemorated. The Polish authorities who ruled Vilnius at that time came up with the idea of erecting a monument at the site of Konarski’s death. The modest concrete block imitating a stone was designed by J. Klosas, with the inscription (which was originally written in Polish): ‘Here, on 27 February 1839, we lost the national hero Szymon Konarski’. The stone was later decorated with an eagle perched on it, but it has not survived to this day.

St. Casimir’s Church, the oldest Baroque church in Vilnius, was built in 1604 with the help of the Jesuit Order and St. Casimir’s relative Sigismund Vasa. A giant stone is still visible on the wall of the church’s facade, which, according to legend, was dragged by 700 people from Antakalnis.

Legends (to which the historian Teodoras Narbutas has contributed to a large extent) say that in pagan times, a temple of the god Ragutis stood on this site. 

In 1981, a group led by archaeologist Gediminas Gendrėnas found a stone with a bowl similar to those used for religious ceremonies while excavating the construction site of the Academy of Arts dormitory (Latako g. 2). The stone was placed in the square between Didžioji and Bokšto Streets. Later, a stone plaque with an inscription stating that it was the site of a shrine to Ragutis was also placed there. 

Under the trees, next to the benches in this square named in honour of the famous lexicographer Konstantinas Sirvydas, you can find some stones scattered as if by accident. Many people sitting on the bench may not notice them, and only the more observant will find the plaque among them, which proclaims that this composition of stones is dedicated to the memory of destroyed cultural monuments.

In 1973, on the occasion of the 650th anniversary of Vilnius, a memorial stone with the inscription ‘Vilnius 1323-1973’ was unveiled in Cathedral (then Gedimino) Square. More sculptures ‘sprouted’ in Vilnius that year: the ‘Lithuanian Ballad’ by Vladas Vildžiūnas on the other side of the Cathedral, the ‘Guard of the City Gate’ by Stanislovas Kuzma at the beginning of Trakų Street, and ‘Metraštininkas’ (‘The Annalist’) by Vaclovas Krutinis on Stiklių Street.

In Castle Park, at the foot of Gedimino Hill, near the Vilnia River, there was a lone stone with a strange shape that attracted the attention of a rare passer-by. And in the Soviet era, around the 1960s, it was even very popular – caressed, hugged, and often photographed. 

The stone on the site of the rebuilt Palace of the Grand Dukes used to be called Lourdes or the Aukuro (pagan sacrificial) stone by the inhabitants of Vilnius. It was even often used for photo shoots in front of it, with Gedimino Tower in the background. When the Palace was rebuilt around 2008, the stone was moved to a new location, and unfortunately, it cannot boast its previous popularity today.

A stone decorated with herbs cast in metal stands on a small tiled hill next to the Church of St. Rapolas. The monument is by Jonas Gencevičius and dedicated to Monsignor Kazimieras Vasiliauskas, long-time pastor of the Vilnius Cathedral Basilica, political prisoner and exile, and honorary citizen of Vilnius. Kazimieras served as a vicar at St. Rapolas Church from 1975 to 1989 and even lived there for a while, setting up a modest room.