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Cemetery of the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul in Antokolė in Vilnius, photo Dorota Janiszewska-Jakubiak, all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Cemetery of the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul in Antokolė in Vilnius
The chapel of the Zawisz family in the cemetery of the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul in Antokolė in Vilnius, photo Dorota Janiszewska-Jakubiak, all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Cemetery of the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul in Antokolė in Vilnius
Meysztowicz family chapel at the cemetery of Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Antokol in Vilnius, photo Dorota Janiszewska-Jakubiak, all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Cemetery of the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul in Antokolė in Vilnius
Disinterment of the Zawadzki family in the cemetery of Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Antokolė in Vilnius, photo Dorota Janiszewska-Jakubiak, all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Cemetery of the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul in Antokolė in Vilnius
Inscription from the gravestone of Jozef Zawadzki in the cemetery of Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Antokolė in Vilnius, photo Dorota Janiszewska-Jakubiak, all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Cemetery of the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul in Antokolė in Vilnius
Inscription from the tombstone of Wladyslaw Zawadzki in the cemetery of St. Peter and Paul Parish in Antokolė in Vilnius, photo Dorota Janiszewska-Jakubiak, all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Cemetery of the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul in Antokolė in Vilnius
Tombstone of Sigismund Levytsky in the cemetery of the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul in Antokolė in Vilnius, photo Dorota Janiszewska-Jakubiak, all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Cemetery of the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul in Antokolė in Vilnius
Inscription from the gravestone of Sigismund Levytsky in the cemetery of the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul in Antokolė in Vilnius, photo Dorota Janiszewska-Jakubiak, all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Cemetery of the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul in Antokolė in Vilnius
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ID: POL-002045-P

Cemetery of the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul in Antokolė in Vilnius

Vilnius | Lithuania
lit. Vilnius
ID: POL-002045-P

Cemetery of the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul in Antokolė in Vilnius

Vilnius | Lithuania
lit. Vilnius

The cemetery of the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul in Antokolė (Lithuanian: Saulės kapinės - Šv. Petro ir Povilo bažnyčios kapinės), after 1945 called "Sunny", is one of the oldest necropolises in Vilnius. The exact date of its establishment is unknown; it was probably founded in the 18th century on a hill near the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. It was probably established in the 18th century on a hill near the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. However, the years 1815-1830 are considered to be the formative years of the necropolis, which was located in the vicinity of the former Lateran Canons' Temple in Antokolė, between Paca (M.K. Paco) and Slonečná (Saulės) Streets.

Situated on a hillside, the cemetery is characterised by a significant difference in levels. Originally, it was probably not fenced. Nowadays, after passing through the main gate, the central cobbled alley leads upwards towards the chapel of the Zaviškis and further on towards the Ogińskis, Sidorowiczs and Meysztowiczs. Above, there are irregularly shaped paths, often steep and difficult to walk. This picturesque necropolis with a historic tree stand is clearly divided into an older, lower part and a newer, higher one.

Vilnius Cemetery of Saints Peter and Paul contains the graves of many families who made a special mark in the history of Vilnius and the Republic. It is worth visiting the quarters of the Zawadzki family. Resting there, among others, is Jozef Zawadzki (1781-1838), a bookseller, founder of a printing house in Vilnius, publisher of Joachim Lelewel, Jędrzej Śniadecki and Adam Mickiewicz, as well as Władysław Zawadzki, professor of the Stefan Batory University in Vilnius and the Warsaw School of Economics, pre-war Minister of the Treasury. The grave of the Zawadzki family is one of the few to be protected by the Lithuanian State. The cemetery as a historical complex is unfortunately not under comprehensive care. Its condition is systematically deteriorating, and the oldest graves and chapels are in urgent need of protection and conservation work.

Among the oldest in the cemetery of Saints Peter and Paul is the classicist chapel of the Zawisz family, which is in a state of progressive ruin. Nearby, one can find the neo-Gothic burial chapel of the Meysztowicz family. It was built for his wife, Zofia, by Aleksander Meysztowicz, Minister of Justice in the governments of Józef Piłsudski and Kazimierz Bartel. Although the chapel was intended as the family mausoleum, it remains empty, and Zofia Meysztowicz, née Kossakowska of the Korwin coat of arms, who died in 1932, is buried in a grave which remains nameless today. "Gawędy o czasach i ludzi" (1st edition London 1973-1974). Meysztowicz wrote: "We buried her, in a temporary grave, in Antokol - and there she remained, probably until her resurrection. For to the chapel, built to house her remains there, they were never moved. This chapel was to be her and her husband's grave. The war derailed all plans. My father lies in the Vatican - her grave remains in the Antioch sand".

Renovation work, financed from the Lithuanian state budget, has been carried out on the burial chapel of the Oginskis' family, built in 1876. Restoration work began in 2015, which was declared in Lithuania the Year of Michal Kleofas Oginskis (1765-1833), a prominent composer, diplomat, political activist and participant in the 1794 uprising. The composer of the A minor Polonaise 'Farewell to the Homeland' himself settled permanently in Florence in 1823. He died there and was buried in the church of Santa Croce.

With funds from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, at the request of the Society of Academic Tradition, the tombstone of Rev. Zygmunt Lewicki (1877-1934) underwent conservation work in 2012. This graduate of the Faculty of Chemistry of the Riga Polytechnic in 1906 entered the Vilnius Theological Seminary, which he completed in 1907, being ordained priest on 24 June 1907. From 1907 to 1912 he studied theology at the University of Innsbruck, where he obtained a doctorate in theology. From 1914 to 1925 he was professor of Church history at the Vilnius seminary, then prefect at the Queen Jadwiga Female Teachers' Seminary in Vilnius, co-organised the Vilnius Scouts, carried out charitable activities, and belonged to the Arkonia Corporation. In 1918, he served as personal secretary to the Administrator of the Vilnius Diocese, Father Kazimierz Michalkiewicz, whom he accompanied during his internment at the Benedictine Abbey of Maria Laach in Germany following the decision of the German occupation authorities. During the Polish-Bolshevik War in 1920, he worked in the military chaplaincy at the Ujazdowski Hospital in Warsaw.

Fr Lewicki's tombstone was made at the R. Bikner stonemason's workshop at 15 Rossa Street, the source of many monuments preserved in the historic cemeteries of Vilnius. The tombstone was already in poor condition, and the inscriptions - among them this one: "Long-time educator and friend of Vilnius youth" were almost illegible. The conservation work on the tombstone was carried out by a team of Polish conservators: Marta Dacyna and Witold Butkiewicz, under the direction of Dr Janusz Smaza of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw.

Time of origin:
18th century, 1815-1830 (formation of the necropolis)
Publikacja:
16.07.2024
Ostatnia aktualizacja:
16.07.2024
Author:
Dorota Janiszewska-Jakubiak
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