The Bernardine friars were brought to Vilnius by Casimir Jagiellon as a result of the stay in Krakow of St John Capistrano, a fiery preacher who wanted to send his confreres with missions to Kaunas and Vilnius. For the monarch, the presence of the monks in the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was important because of their missionary effectiveness among the Orthodox Lithuanian and Ruthenian populations, but also because of their prestige, as the Pope was interested in their activities and granted them many privileges similar to those enjoyed by the monks in the Holy Land. Casimir Jagiellon gave the Bernardines a site on the outskirts of the city (according to the custom of the order), next to the prince's mill, issuing a foundation act on 30 IX 1469. This location was not accidental, as this was the area then known as civitas Ruthenica (Ruthenian city), where an Orthodox cathedral stood, as well as smaller Orthodox churches (wooden).

Architecture

What remains of the first Bernardine church is today's presbytery with a trilateral closed choir, with windows with full arches, and the sacristy. The body of the church, probably built too hastily on damp ground, began to crack and was demolished in 1500. At the request of Alexander Jagiellon, who took over the care of the Bernardines from his father and who was supported by the Radziwiłłs, a resident of Gdansk, Michał Enkinger, was employed to carry out the work. He later built another church for the Bernardines - St Anne's in Warsaw.

Eventually, a three-nave, five-bay hall with four pairs of octagonal pillars was built. A two-storey sacristy is located next to the chancel with a typical mendicanicant choir character. A tower adjoins the chancel on the south side. Two turrets are also located at the façade, which has pointed arched panels on either side of the large central window, decorated with mascarons. The original gable of the church was stepped (altered in the 1720s-30s).

The brick decoration of the façade, the stellar, net and crystal vaults in the interior are of high artistic value. These elements, like the hall scheme, betray a northern Danzig provenance. Particularly close are the solutions from the Franciscan church in Gdansk (presbytery until the 1580s, hall-like body until 1514).

In 1560 and 1564 the monastery and church were hit by fires. As a result of these incidents, part of the vaults collapsed and were rebuilt in 1577.

Gothic paintings

The Gothic paintings were discovered in the 1970s and date back to the first half of the 16th century. Today, they are best seen on the north wall of the church. The unknown artists depicted on them scenes from the life of St Francis and the beginnings of the Order. The Passion of Christ and the Adoration of the Holy Cross can also be seen on them. The paintings also depict St Christopher and St George, the patron saints of Vilnius and Lithuania, as well as numerous symbolic figures and motifs related to Franciscan legends (e.g. Brother Sylvester chasing away evil spirits from Arezzo, St Anthony preaching to the fish).

Rococo furnishings

Between 1763 and 1767, the Bernardine friars commissioned non-polychrome ash and oak furnishings for their church (altars, confessionals, pulpit, stalls). Although it was mostly destroyed after 1945, when the church was closed, reconstruction work is underway on the basis of surviving fragments and archive photographs. These realisations were characterised by their high artistic value. Their design was given by an unknown architect and the realisation was undertaken by, among others, Daniele Giotto, who made the main altar, the woodcarver Wilhelm Frezer (work on three altars and the pulpit), the carpenters Wincenty Holtz, Johann Karl, Walter and Jakub.

At the same time, a new organ prospect was built, a 31-voice organ with two manuals and a pedal, existing in only slightly modified form to this day. The organ builder was Mikolaj Janson, who made the instrument at a cost of 9,000 zloty. Originally, it was placed behind the main altar in the presbytery, as the west wall of the church housed a balcony for the Bernardine Sisters of St. Bernard, who had their monastery nearby (the instrument was moved at the beginning of the 20th century). The organ is the oldest certain work of Nicolaus Janson, a well-known organ-builder possibly of Dutch origin, and the woodcarving was made by artists active at the altars. In Lithuania, there is a twin prospectus in the church of the Discalced Carmelites of Our Lady of the Scapular in Linkov from 1764.

Around the shrine

In accordance with their monastic charism, the Bernardine friars developed the Way of the Cross devotion from the beginning of the 17th century. Its stations were placed in the church courtyard, together with the Chapel of the Holy Steps from 1617, referring to the Santa Scala built by Sixtus V in Rome. It was later rebuilt (1746-1752), with the addition in 1872 of a soaring neo-Gothic bell tower (designed by Nikolai Chagin), the shape of which was adapted to the St Anne's Church standing next to it.