Žvėrynas

In 1902, there were already 5 brick houses and 285 wooden houses in Žvėrynas, and there was a need to replace the wooden bridge over the Neris River, which was built in 1892. In 1905–1907, a new metal bridge of 103.1 m span connected the two banks of the river and was named after Tsar Nicholas (Žvėrynas itself was called Alexandria at the time). The bridge was partially blown up in 1944, and until it was repaired, residents used a specially provided ladder to cross the gap between the piers. The bridge was reconstructed in 2006. The structure is interesting in at least a few other respects: firstly, it is the only functioning bridge across the Neris in Vilnius supported by ‘legs’ standing in the water. Secondly, for almost 400 years, there was only one bridge over the Neris in Vilnius – the Green Bridge (since 1536), and the second was a very long time coming, but it was built in Žvėrynas. The site is important for recent history because in 1991–1992, barricades of Seimas defenders stood near and on the bridge, some of which are on display at the Seimas building.

In 1899, the developer of Žvėrynas, Vasily Martinson, donated the land by the bridge to the Orthodox Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit, which in turn started building a new Orthodox church, designed by the renowned architect Mikhail Prozorov. In 1903, the church was completed and consecrated, and was given the name of the icon of the Virgin Mary ‘Our Lady of The Sign’, but locals usually call it simply ‘Znamenskaya’. The church’s location was not intended to be in the centre of Žvėrynas for nothing: it was intended to be a counterweight to the Catholic Cathedral already standing at the other end of Gediminas Avenue, it was also designed to be clearly visible to those crossing the river, symbolising the fact that the country was ruled by the Tsar, i.e. by the Orthodox government. Along with the Orthodox Church, a parish school and orphanage were established in accordance with the new tradition. Perhaps the most important fact is that the founder of modern Žvėrynas, V. Martinson himself, rested in the churchyard of this church. The merchant’s modest grave is on the right hand side.

It is the wooden architecture that makes Žvėrynas unique. When V. Martinson started to divide the area into tracts, it attracted settlers as a summer resort – a real Druskininkai near the city centre! The conditions were perfect – the area is surrounded on three sides by the River Neris, the surrounding pine trees provide clean air, and there are even mineral springs. Since it was already understood at that time that wood was an environmentally friendly building material, it is not surprising that the construction of such houses took root in Žvėrynas. Some of the buildings were built as summer houses, others as permanent residences. Vytauto Street is an excellent place to get to know the wooden architecture of Žvėrynas, but if you have time, it is worth taking a zigzag stroll along the other streets as well, as wooden houses are scattered all over the district, either as one-offs or in large groups. The house at Vytauto g. 27 is an excellent example of the oldest wooden villas in Žvėrynas. The building dates from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and the recent 21st-century reconstruction was undertaken carefully.

After the 1905 Russian Revolution, the Tsarist system became freer in many areas, including religion, and the decade leading up to the First World War and the collapse of the Russian Empire was marked by the construction of many new non-Orthodox houses of worship in Lithuania, of which the Catholic Church in Žvėrynas is a prime example. The site was allocated in 1907 and construction began in 1911. In 1925, services were held in the unfinished church. Work continued even during the Soviet era, and although the original design could not be fully realised (e.g. the towers were supposed to have been taller), it was consecrated in 1958 and has been in continuous operation ever since. The altar of the church is striking, with a wall decorated with mouldings depicting some of Vilnius’ most famous buildings.

The oldest building in Žvėrynas is the water mill. It was built and the ponds were dug as early as the 16th century. The system was supplied with water by the Šaltupys stream and other springs flowing from the surrounding hills. In addition to the mill, the 1813 description of the jurisdiction of the Radziwiłł Žvėrynas also mentions a former brick miller’s house and a Jewish distillery. The mill was still in operation after the First World War and was used as a warehouse for groats during the Soviet period. In 2003–2004, the mill was converted into a residential building. Although the new architectural elements may be somewhat misleading, the unusual volumes of the building and the stones visible in the basement indicate the solid age of the building.

The mill in Žvėrynas was the reason for the formation of one of the first streets in Žvėrynas – the present-day Latvių Street. This was the road to the Žvėrynas mill, which stretched from the Green Bridge along the River Neris to the present-day Upės Street. After the process of dividing the land into tracts, this street was called Dzielna or Delna, i.e. ‘dividing street’, because it divided Žvėrynas into two parts – the northern and the southern. The latter was also known as the forest zone, where the plots were larger and more expensive than in the northern zone, known as the field or garden zone. A quite distinct separation between northern and southern Žvėrynas is still visible today, but the more important boundary is no longer Latvių Street, but the bustling and busy T. Narbuto Street.

In 2001, an empty meadow on the outskirts of Žvėrynas was decorated with the ‘Chirping Cross’ by the famous artist Gitenis Umbrasas. Note that the shape of the cross really is a cross, but it is made up of a multitude of nesting boxes for birds, hence why it is considered to be chirping. The artist had the idea of erecting a few more similar pieces in other parts of the world, so that the birds, without realising it, would have their own pilgrimage stops as they migrate. Several other works by G. Umbrasas are well-known to Vilnius residents, such as ‘The Shores of Love’, ‘The Wall of Memory’, and the ‘Miracle’ tile among others.

Although we are very close to the city centre, Žvėrynas has several objects that are typical of remote natural places. The first one is the Šaltupio Spring from the same stream that was dammed in the 16th century for the mill you have already seen. After walking a couple of hundred metres along the bank, you will see the oak grove and the grotto of the former Radziwiłł residence. The exquisite wooden summer residence of the Radziwiłł family and, in the 19th century, of the Governor General of Vilnius, was located on a hill at Birutės g. 40. Unfortunately, this building has not survived. As you walk further along the path, just beside the footbridge, look out for the spring, known as the ‘Eye of the Žvėrynas’, that spouts from underground. Here, the sand is constantly bubbling, as if it were boiling, with a strong flow of water. And right here, there’s a spectacular pine tree ‘umbrella’ canopy.

In the late1950s, the Architects’ Union of the USSR started organising study trips for architects to Western countries, with the hope that they would gain experience, acquire new ideas, and apply them in their homeland. Among those who travelled to foreign countries, there were many Lithuanians. The most popular destination was Finland, where Lithuanians brought with them a large collection of ideas from Nordic modernism. In 1959, a competition was announced for the construction of 16 single-family dwellings and a concert hall in Žvėrynas. It was won by the young architects Vytautas Edmundas Čekanauskas and Vytautas Brėdikis, whose project was heavily influenced by Scandinavian design. The architects planned to build a cohesive low-rise neighbourhood in a pine forest near the River Neris, using the most natural materials available in Lithuania. Wood planks, clay bricks, and decorative plaster were used for decoration. The two-storey residential cottages have creative work rooms in addition to the usual rooms. The freestanding audition hall building looked particularly modern, with large stained-glass windows on the second floor and a cosy interior. It should be noted that 1959 was the beginning of the era of mass construction of blocks of flats, so in this context, the Composers’ House was truly exceptional. The complex was completed in 1966.

The architecture of interwar modernism was characterised by its opposition to the over–elaborate styles that had prevailed earlier. The Modernists abandoned almost all ornamentation and concentrated on restraint, rationality, and strict geometry. Today, Kaunas, once the capital of the Republic, is the most famous city in Lithuania for its modernist architecture. However, Vilnius, which was under Polish rule, was not bypassed by the general trend. Examples of strict and regular modernism are particularly abundant in A. Mickevičiaus Street. It is worth starting with number 23, which was built as an apartment block for rent, and then, as you walk along, look on both sides of the street to see other examples of architecture from this period. Do you like them?

At the end of the 14th century, Vytautas began the history of the Karaite people in Lithuania by bringing several hundred Karaite families from Crimea to Trakai. In the early 19th century, some of them moved to Vilnius, and in the early 20th century, they planned to build a house of worship – a kenesa – in the recently established Žvėrynas. At that time, about 300 Karaites lived in Vilnius. The community built a Mauritanian-style house of worship in Žvėrynas in 1911-1923. However, this kenesa was not open for long, closing in 1949 before becoming an archive for the Geodesy Surveying Service, and even an apartment. In 1989, the ownership of the place of worship was returned to the Karaite community and was reconsecrated in 1993. However, the doors of this kenesa are hardly ever opened, as the more vibrant community life takes place only in Trakai, while in Vilnius the Karaites have dispersed or assimilated. In 2011, 241 Karaites officially lived in the whole country. In 2020, a commemorative plaque was unveiled on the house at Kęstučio g. 23 to the long-term spiritual and lay leader of the Karaites, Seraj Shapshal, who lived in the building for a while and even founded the Karaite Museum, which was open until 1951.

This unremarkable two-storey brick building, built in 1905, is the site of the very first Vilnius radio station in 1927. Signal coverage at that time was only 10-15 km, so in 1931 a new transmitting station was opened in Liepkalnis, but the studio remained in Žvėrynas until October 1935. Until the outbreak of the war, the call sign of the Vilnius Radiophone, or ‘Polskie Radio Wilno’, was a simple cuckoo call. The Žvėrynas studio was the venue for numerous recitals, poetry evenings, masses from the Dawn Gate Chapel, and occasional broadcasts in Belarusian and Lithuanian. The radio broadcast the first original radio play in Poland, ‘Pogrzeb Kiejstuta’ (‘The Funeral of Kęstutis’), written by Witold Hulewicz, who headed the station in 1927–1935. In 1995, Hulewicz was commemorated in Poland with the creation of the Hulewicz Award for merit in the fields of poetry and playwriting.

Although this stone was found in the riverbed when the Neris was dredged in 1958, not even all Žvėrynas residents have seen the mysterious boulder. According to historians, the stone was used to mark the Grand Duke’s personal estate, and the symbols were carved on it as early as the 15th century. This assumption is based on historical iconography and the evolution of the depiction of the Gediminas Pillars, as well as on the 1441 privilege of Casimir Jogailaitis, through which he donated the territory of what is now roughly the territory of the Lukiškės district of the town of Vilnius. So, could it be that the property on the Žvėrynas side of the Duke’s estate was marked with this stone? It is suggested that there may have been more stones like this in the Vilnius area. Some more critical scholars argue that the symbolism of this stone may be much later, dating back only to the 20th century and the Lithuanian national movement. Which version do you find more convincing?