Kaunas Town Hall, Kaunas, Lithuania

The construction of Kaunas town hall started in 1542. At first it was a one-storey building with not daubed facade and vaulting cellars. In the 16th century the first floor was build and the eight storey tower was built in the east of the building. The ground floor was adjusted for trading and prison guards, the first floor - for trial, magistrate, treasure, archive and office. Cellars were used to store the goods. The cellars of the tower were used as a prison.

In the year 1638 the renaissance reconstruction was made. In the year 1771 -1775 the second reconstruction was made by architect J. Matekeris. He rebuilt the part of building, which was demolished in the 17th century, replanned the premises and added additional floor to the tower. He decorated the town hall with baroque and classicism style decorations, rebuilt the pediment and erected there the sculptures of Grand Dukes of Lithuania (they survived only until the 19th century).

In 1824 the town hall was used as the premises of the orthodox church and later - ammunition storage. In 1836 the town hall was reconstructed again. The residence for Russian Czars was made there. From the year 1862 and 1869 there was The Kaunas town club, Russian club, firemen office and Russian theatre. In 1869 Kaunas municipality was established in the Town hall. In the year 1944 it was replaced by the archive and in the year 1951 the archive was replaced by Kaunas technical institute.

In 1973 the Wedding Hall (marriage registration office) was opened in the ground and first floor of Town hall. The cellars were used by a Ceramics museum. In the year 2005 the last reconstruction was made, some of damage was eliminated and the Town hall was painted this time not with white color, but with ivory.

Today Kaunas Town hall is used for the wedding ceremonies, official welcome of city guests, signing of agreements and official events.

References:

Wikipedia

Palaces, manors and town halls in Lithuania

User Reviews

Andzio (12 months ago)
Very interesting museum, including whole history of Kaunas, from middle ages, through Communism to twenty first century. Highly recommended for all tourists visiting Kaunas :3

romuald chruskov (18 months ago)
Most visited places in Kaunas , old town bars , cafes and restaurants, you can also find here museums art shops and other interesting sites

Līga Zaumane (2 years ago)
Christmas tree, market, nice decorations. Smells like Christmas :)

Viktoras Palys (2 years ago)
Must see in Kaunas! At the peak end of pedestrian Vilniaus street. Tons of sights to see around. Two rivers confluence.

Koen (2 years ago)
The 53 meter high tower gives the classicist town hall a graceful slenderness. The "White Swan", as the town hall is nicknamed, is nowadays mainly a location for wedding ceremonies and other official occasions.

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