The text describes the most important monuments in Vilnius from pre-Christian times through Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Classicism and modernity for the author of the article. Mention is made, for example, of the Church of the Dominican Fathers, the Church of St Peter and St Paul, St Casimir's Chapel in the Vilnius Cathedral or the observatory of Stefan Batory University (Source: Tygodnik Illustrowany, Warsaw 1928, Półrocze I, pp. 169-173, after: Digital Library of the University of Łódź).

A modernised reading of the text

Monuments of Vilnius architecture.

The first impressions of a newcomer to Vilnius are twofold: at first he is struck by the sordid state of the streets - potholes, ford, mud, fountains of rainwater flooding from the roofs of his newfound hat, in a word, that state of the city which we define by the word civilisation. But the moment the newcomer looks up and looks around, he is numb with amazement and awe... He wipes his eyes, rubs them, opens his mouth in mute admiration and - looks around. At that moment he forgets about his brand new hat: hell no! A beautiful work of art must strike you at every turn in Vilnius! The architecture of Vilnius is a truly magnificent expression of culture. The beauty of Vilnius does not end with its landscape. Rather, it begins with the landscapes seen either from the Castle Hill or the Lykosha Hill, from Pohulanka or from the Boulefalva Hill.

From the streets and alleys of Vilnius, the walls pile up, hiding not only the outdated forms, but speaking with their grandeur, nobility and silent, yet so insightful content... The shabby, cracked, sometimes mutilated buildings have not yet lost their majesty. In spite of the variety of their purpose, materials and forms, they have a certain common character in their design, proper to a given time, which we call style*). "Vide Vilnius, a sightseeing guide, edited by Juljusz Kłos, professor of the Stefan Batory University. Batorego. Vilnius, 1923." The architectural development of Vilnius can be divided into the following periods: pre-Christian, Gothic (from the beginning of the 15th century to the middle of the 16th century), Renaissance (16th century), Baroque (17th century), Rococo (1700-1770), Classicism (1770-1830), and finally the period of recent years.

Pre-Christian period

Today Vilnius does not possess any building monuments of this period for the simple reason that the then human dwellings in pagan Lithuania were made quite primitively from such perishable materials as brushwood, earth, clay and - at best - wood. However, knowing the original forms of folk buildings, it can be established with certainty that the dwellings of the Lithuanian capital at that time were simple hastily put together huts similar to the tent, the prototype of all buildings. We have the testimony of the famous traveller Gilbert de Lannoys, who in 1413 found Vilnius still built in such huts, to support our claim. Only the ducal castles, as the most magnificent buildings, were built of wood, which was already the height of perfection by the standards of those times! The Lithuanians did not build temples, as they performed their religious ceremonies in the sacred groves, according to the ancient custom).

It is reasonable to assume that in pagan Vilnius, on the site of today's Cathedral, in the valley of the Švintoroga River, in the area of the Gates of Dawn and Antokol, on the site of the later Church of St. Peter and St. Paul - there were ancient thickets, the veneration of which survived with the people for many centuries after the adoption of Christianity and influenced the erection of temples in these places in later times. All monuments of masonry construction preserved to date in the Lithuanian lands show in their design and technique such characteristic features of 15th century Polish Gothic, that it is impossible to move the date of their creation back beyond the 15th century. In his travels, Gilbert de Lannoys describes the Upper Castle in Vilnius as "tout en bois". From this it follows that stories about the pagan origin of the most ancient walls of Vilnius turn out to be a mere forgery. "Vide Professor Bruckner on Lithuanian mythology."

Gothic

After the baptism of Lithuania, they set about cutting down the sacred groves. In their place stood the churches of St Stanislaus, St John and St Martin on Castle Hill. These churches were built of wood for lack of other materials, which is evidenced by the mention in Jogaila's complaint to the pope that during the siege of Vilnius in 1390, the Teutonic Knights destroyed "a beautiful new wooden church" to build a bridge over the Neris River. Later, Jogaila, having seen the impressive stone buildings in Krakow, wished to decorate his hometown Vilnius with such structures.

The oldest stone church in Vilnius is undoubtedly the former Franciscan Church (in Trakai Street). Its sharp-arched structure, rebuilt from the ground up in the 18th century, still shows the Gothic fleece deformed during reconstruction. The small Church of St. Nicolas, founded in 1440, ranks second. In its interior we find a wealth of architectural effects and a striving for splendour and ornamental magnificence that distinguishes Vilnius architecture from other parts of Poland. This peculiarly Vilnius exuberance, ingenuity and unconcerned decorative extravagance left its mark on all works in the further architectural development of Vilnius. At the same time, the most subtle gothic bloomed in Vilnius in the form of two churches of the highest artistic value.

These are the churches of St. Anne and St. Bernardine, like twins fused together, although they were built some time apart. St Anne's Church, one of the most magnificent in Vilnius, was originally built of wood in 1395. Destroyed by fire, it was rebuilt in 1502. Especially the exterior impresses with the virtuosity of its rich composition. The lightness with which the casements and arches interweave, turning into soaring turrets at the top, decorated with creepers and flowers, is what made Napoleon say of this church when he visited Vilnius:

"if I could, I would immediately carry it to Paris on my hand".

The fact that 33 types of bricks of different styles were used for the construction of this church, which was built according to a predetermined and studied design, shows how deeply and carefully thought out the whole decoration of the church was. The church was restored in 1900-1904 by Arch. Dziekoński from Warsaw, at a considerable cost, whereby the 2 side arches of the portal were restored and the church was provided with a stellar vault. The interior has been completely renovated and is not very interesting; it has three baroque altars and a tombstone of Jakóba and Anna Naporkowski from 1625. The exterior of the church has been badly damaged by painting the bricks with bright red paint.

The St John's Church also shows its Gothic origins in its massive escutcheons with ogival windows and in the cross vaults of the side aisles. Its hall system reveals a clear affinity with the type established throughout Poland in the early 15th century in the use of brick construction. According to Prof. Kloś, the church was built for the purpose of Vytautas' coronation, which can be proved by the fact that the side aisles were wrapped around the presbytery*). The ceremonial welcoming of kings Stefan Batory, Sigismund III, Ladislaus IV and John Casimir took place in this church. This is where students of Vilnius University and the Academy prayed before their lectures, including Adam Mickiewicz and Edward Antoni Odyniec, whose busts adorn the nave to this day.

This is also the church where the famous organist Stanislaw Moniuszko played for many years, dreaming in his mind of the powerful chords of Halka, the Countess and the Haunted Manor... Speaking of St John's Church, it is impossible to ignore the brilliant composition of the presbytery, whose creator has not yet been identified. Already the front façade, which faces the university courtyard, and the eastern gable (from Zamkowa Street) have all the virtues of the flourishing Rococo: lightness, grace and freedom, together with a mastery of form, whose playful coquetry was tempered somewhat by the solemn solemnity of the order.

Renaissance

Between 1737 and 1740, contrary to the custom, widespread in Catholic churches, of placing side altars next to the inter-nave pillars - he concentrated all the effect precisely on the chancel, leaving the nave of the church completely without altars, wishing to heighten the contrast with this phenomenal impression. In contrast to the calm planes of the nave, in the chancel there is a huge altar made up of colossal segments, composed of ten elements strangely connected into one bizarre whole, in a virtuoso manner surpassing the boldest theatrical decorations.

In the Bernardine Church, attention is drawn to the ornaments of the front façade, as well as the magnificent pillars supporting the vaulting of the main nave - modest, cruciform, while in the side aisles it is partly star-shaped, partly crystal, with an infinite variety of arrangement, never repeated. The Renaissance The slogan of the revival of ancient art, soon after its appearance in Italy, invaded also Poland, evoking enthusiasm among the cultural spheres of the time, i.e. the court, magnates and nobility. Soon, under the guidance of foreign masters, Polish architects developed, who gave Renaissance art its peculiar Polish character, thanks to which already in the second half of the 16th century a distinct style of the Polish Renaissance was created as a variant of the Italian one. In Vilnius, the first mark of the Renaissance was put on the construction of the Lower Royal Castle. Unfortunately, only Smuglewicz's watercolours make us aware of this priceless monument of Polish renaissance art today: the hands of the sacrilegious have ripped away irretrievably one of the most beautiful pages of the history of Polish art.

In Smuglewicz's watercolours we can see these Polish attics, created back in the Middle Ages on defensive buildings in Poland. We can also find Polish attics on an old view of the Radziwiłłs' castle in Vilnius, popularly known as the Barbary Radziwiłłówny Palace. Fortunately, Polish attics have survived: on the chapter house at 4 Zamkowa Street, in one of the courtyards of the University (Smuglewicz's courtyard) and the richest of them, but the latest, from the 17th century, the attic at the Gate of Dawn. In the field of church building, the 16th century left no richer legacy. We learn about the rebuilding of the Cathedral in the spirit of the Renaissance only from the agreement made by the Chapter with the builder Bernardo Zenobi from Rome and the famulus, Giovani Cini from Siena. Prince Lev Sapieha founded St Michael's Church in 1594-1596.

In the architecture of this church, one can best sense the Renaissance character as opposed to the later Baroque: calm harmony and discreet subtlety of great simplicity. Narbutt's assumption that the author of the church was Inkers-de-Ry does not stand up to criticism in view of the obvious fact that an eleven-year-old boy could not possibly have been an architect. A separate belfry, in Baroque style, was not built until the end of the 17th century. The church was once surrounded by a high wall and cloister, supported by Doric columns.

The Muscovites looted all the church valuables and the coffins of the Sapiehs, dumping their corpses in the street. The main altar is striking for its richness: chiseled from black, red, green and brown marbles, it is a beautiful work of the 17th century. The first gusts of Baroque blew into Vilnius with the arrival of Jesuits in 1570. The Vilnius Academy is the first herald of this style. Having completed the most urgent works at the Academy, the Jesuits laid the foundation stone of St Casimir's Church (1596-1604), which was already a crystallised type of Jesuit churches. Modelled on the Il Gesu church in Rome, both in plan and layout, St Casimir's has a main nave of immense width and height, and a transept of equal height.

The two naves are in the shape of a Latin cross, and at their intersection rises a huge dome, typical of Baroque churches. The churches of St Ignatius (completely disfigured by the Russians and converted into an officers' club!), the Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit, St Stephen's Church, St Teresa's Church and a number of others belong to this style. An incomparable work was done by Sigismund III, who built the Chapel of St Casimir (1624-1636) to house the relics of this saint, the son of Casimir the Jagiellonian, who died in 1483. The chapel was built by the court architect, Peter Darrkers-de-Rv. It is closely modelled on the Sigismund Chapel on the Wawel Castle. The exterior, segmented by Doric pilasters, is characterised by simplicity, while the interior displays all the splendour of the Baroque with its wealth of marble, silver and paintings.

The church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Antokol (1668-1684) is the only, but stunning representative of church art in the second half of the 17th century. In plan and mass layout, the church adheres faithfully to the type of Jesuit churches with a dominant dome at the intersection of the naves, forming a Latin cross. The façade might not have deserved any special mention were it not for the captivating interior, covered with stucco sculptures of the highest artistic value. The innumerable baroque richness of the decorative and figural motifs (more than 2,000 human figures) captivates the delighted viewer at first sight.

The details of the floral and figural ornaments are characterised by an exquisite refinement that was unusual even for those times, and the numerous human figures (e.g. St Florian, the figure of Mercy, St Mary Magdalene and especially Satan) are distinguished by the profound spirituality of their facial expressions, rendered with brilliant subtlety. The creators of this masterpiece of decoration, Piotr Peretti and Jan Galii of Milan, with the help of 300 craftsmen brought from Warsaw, where they were busy with the restoration of the Royal Castle, were able to capture the essential tone of the soul of Vilnius, giving it a most perfect expression, vibrant with the exuberance and vigour of the life of the time.

The death of the founder, unfortunately, did not allow the artists to complete their dream work. The great altarpiece, the strongest chord of the whole composition, the completion of which had been postponed until the last moment, did not live to see completion. In 1803, the sculptors Giovanni Baretto and Niccolò Piano from Milan were brought in to restore the church and complete the missing Grand Altarpiece. The artists made a new pulpit in the shape of Peter's boat, but funds were insufficient to complete the Great Altar. Russian vandalism irrevocably destroyed all the former palaces of the Radziwiłłs, Sapiehs, Pacs, Chodkiewiczes, Słuszko and many others which Vilnius used to boast.

One of the palaces that has been preserved is that of the Sapieha family in Antokol, splendidly decorated with paintings by the Italian artist Delbene, the most outstanding of which is undoubtedly the "Feast of the Gods". Similarly richly decorated was the palace of the Slushkas, today the famous prison in Antokol - on the banks of the Neris in the shape of a defensive square castle with four towers at the corners. The plaque above the main entrance proclaimed with truly baroque pathos that the building was:

"the victor of the elements, pushed the currents of the Neris out of its bed, removed the mountains to stand in their place as a new mountain".

Rococo The solemn monumentality of the works of Bernini, the greatest master of the Italian Baroque, was completely supplanted in the second half of the 17th century by the whimsical extravagance of his pupil and rival, Borromini, and his school, which soon captured minds and gradually changed the character of the Baroque into the style known as Rococo. This style, which is in fact only one of the varieties of the great art current of the Renaissance, also uses, like the Renaissance and Baroque, the motifs of classical, i.e. Old High Art, but shreds them to filigree dimensions, and manages them in a completely peculiar and arbitrary manner, at the cost of originality above all.

St. Catherine's Church, already completed in its construction in the spirit of Rococo, is a harbinger of this style in Vilnius, as evidenced not only by the division of the facades and towers into small tiers and the lace portal, but above all by the exterior composition of the Chapel of Providence, exquisite in its elegance and originality. The Church of the Missionaries and the gate to the Basilian Monastery are among the masterpieces of Vilnius Rococo. The churches of St Raphael (1703) and St Philip and St James (1737) are second to none.

Although the Rococo style was generally an expression of decorative tendencies and limited itself to purely ornamental innovations, without introducing new spatial concepts, in the first period of its existence it brought a somewhat new idea to church building, which was in fact only a development of the basic motif of Baroque churches to the extreme: the dome. The dome takes absolute control of the church layout, imposing on it a circular plan with only short arms of the cross, the so-called Greek cross, as we see in the Church of the Heart of Jesus (of the Visitation Sisters) on Rossa (1717-1737), or reducing the church plan to a pure "rotunda" type in the Church of the Lord Jesus (of the Trinitarians) on Antokol (1694-1737). Such a layout, which was very uniform in composition, facilitated the decorative work in the interior of the church immensely, and the upper light only allowed the use of lace stucco ornamentation.

Both the Church of the Heart of Jesus and the Church of the Lord Jesus display an exquisite artistic culture in this respect. The Church of the Heart of Jesus was confiscated in 1863 and handed over to Orthodox nuns, who converted it into the Church of St Mary Magdalene, changing the external shape of the dome and adding an ugly tower and a porch in front of the entrance. The dates 1865-1915 were painted on the porch during the church's 50th anniversary celebrations, not realising that this marked the dates of Russian rule in the church. The terrible fires that struck the city in the first half of the 18th century and destroyed the churches and their interiors to the ground forced them to be vigorously rebuilt.

This is the reason why the majority of the churches in Vilnius, built in different periods of time, have Rococo interiors. While the churches of Vilnius show the rich influence of this relatively short period in art, the influence of Rococo in secular buildings is strikingly weak. Undoubtedly, numerous palaces and houses of the bourgeoisie, rebuilt after fires, must also have been decorated with the lace of this style, but they were completely lost in later acts of vandalism and neglect. CLASSICISM In the second half of the 18th century, a yearning for solemnity, simplicity and tranquillity in art - for a certain solemn monumentality - awakens in Europe. At first, this movement makes its tentative mark, entering into a compromise with the existing style in life and art. This variety is called the Louis XVI style in France, while in Germany it is called "Zopf" (i.e. style of wigs and braids).

In the whole spiritual life of mankind, there is a significant turn towards classical ideals. Over time, the Roman models were joined by Greek and partly Egyptian motifs, which wanted to diversify and enliven the excessive severity of the previous era. The 'Imperial style', Empire, is created. Proper classicism, based directly on Roman motifs, is introduced in Vilnius by the architect Knakfus, the first professor of architecture at the Jesuit Academy. The portico with four Ionic columns in the Reuss house (in Napoleon Square), the frontispiece of the Łopaciński house (Skopówka 11), the Wintinghof house at the junction of Trotska and German Streets, and especially the monumental construction of the University Observatory - clearly characterise the triumph of the new direction. At the same time, the apogee of classicism in Vilnius was the work of Wawrzyniec Gucewicz (1753-1798), a pupil of Knakfus and his successor at the chair of architecture at Vilnius University. His most outstanding buildings are the Town Hall with its dominant portico of 6 Doric columns, and above all the Cathedral (1777-1801).

The cathedral's huge front portico with 6 Doric columns in particular is impressive in its massive massing and has no equal in the whole of Poland. The interior of the cathedral realises the classical programme in its purest form. Other noteworthy classical works include the Columned Hall at the University, the Evangelical-Reformed Church in Zawalna Street, which features a front portico modelled, apparently, on the cathedral, and the chapel and gallery at the Gate of Dawn.

Empire came to Vilnius from the east in a Russian interpretation. Its expression is the Bishop's Palace (now the representative palace of the Republic), designed by the court architect Stasov in St Petersburg. The period of captivity came. After the suppression of the 1830-1831 uprising, Vilnius experiences the most terrible martyrdom. Cultural life, the centre of science and art ceases - the University is closed. The whole cultural heritage was deliberately and consistently destroyed. With a truly Mongolian obstinacy, Russia proceeds step by step in its destructive action, placing its fist on every monument, changing everything from the ground up, obliterating any trace of culture. Muravyev is beginning a vigorous operation.

He builds new Orthodox churches, converts seized churches into Orthodox churches and monasteries. There is no end in sight to the desecration and profanation of monuments. Private construction, monopolised in the hands of government 'architects', is also increasingly influenced by Byzantium, so that the new districts of the city do indeed look like some kind of Saratov or Tobolsk. A sculptor and architect of extraordinary talent appeared in Vilnius like a meteor heralding revival. His premature death in the defence of his homeland deprived Vilnius of one of its most brilliant artists, who was undoubtedly Antoni Wiwulski.

The creator of the Jagiello statue in Krakow, he had only begun his architectural activity a few years before the war, designing the magnificent Church of the Heart of Jesus. Of his other works, Wiwulski left behind the monument to the Three Crosses on the mountain of the same name, erected, like the Kosciuszko Mound, with the generosity of the whole of Vilnius society in 1915.