National Museum of Lithuania, Vilnius, Lithuania

The National Museum of Lithuania, established in 1952, is a state-sponsored historical museum that encompasses several significant structures and a wide collection of written materials and artifacts. It also organizes archeological digs in Lithuania. The museum consists of five main departments, although three of them are located close to each other to the Vilnius Castle Complex (into the New Arsenal, the Old Arsenal and the Tower of Gediminas Castle).

The history of the Old Lithuania (between 13th century - 1795) is exposed in the New Arsenal. The Ethnic exposition involves Folk art and home comforts of Lithuanian rustics of the 18th-19th centuries. One of the biggest archeological expositions in Europe called “Lithuanian prehistory” is located in the Old Arsenal. The Tower of Gediminas Castle includes an impressive collection of weaponry of 14th-17th centuries.

References:

way2lithuania.com

User Reviews

Liubov Bevz (3 years ago)
Great place to visit. Entrance was just 3 EUR and there are lots of interesting things collected. I loved ethnographic expozition with reconstruction of typical traditional Lithuanian households. And especially interesting is exposition about unique Lithuanian art called Cross crafting.

Ray (4 years ago)
Museums are very affordable in Vilnius and I definitely recommend everyone to visit this one. They even have free cloakrooms!

Bill Dinger (4 years ago)
An expansive museum covering the grounds and barracks of the old Vilnius castle. Has numerous artifacts about Lithuanian history and it's information placards are in both English and Lithuanian. The cost is 2 Euros for each section, and there are like 3 aections. Takes about 2 hours if you go to all 3 places as well as hike up to the castle. Please note castle hike is up a very steep pitch with uneven cobblestones and limited to no handrails. There is a furnicular but it wasn't working when I was there. The top offers great views of Vilnius

Olga P (4 years ago)
A very interesting museum! And only 1,5 euros for students!

Usman Malik (4 years ago)
Love this museum. Nice collection. It’s not so big but got plenty of stuff. Tickets about €3 for adult and kids free. They have got musical instruments, maps of old Lithuania, clothes used to wear and different areas of Lithuania and much more. Must visit if you like history.

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Broch of Gurness

The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.

The remains of the central tower are up to 3.6 metres high, and the stone walls are up to 4.1 metres thick. The tower was likely inhabited by the principal family or clan of the area but also served as a last resort for the village in case of an attack.

The broch continued to be inhabited while it began to collapse and the original structures were altered. The cistern was filled in and the interior was repartitioned. The ruin visible today reflects this secondary phase of the broch's use.

The site is surrounded by three ditches cut out of the rock with stone ramparts, encircling an area of around 45 metres diameter. The remains of numerous small stone dwellings with small yards and sheds can be found between the inner ditch and the tower. These were built after the tower, but were a part of the settlement's initial conception. A 'main street' connects the outer entrance to the broch. The settlement is the best-preserved of all broch villages.

Pieces of a Roman amphora dating to before 60 AD were found here, lending weight to the record that a 'King of Orkney' submitted to Emperor Claudius at Colchester in 43 AD.

At some point after 100 AD the broch was abandoned and the ditches filled in. It is thought that settlement at the broch continued into the 5th century AD, the period known as Pictish times. By that time the broch was not used anymore and some of its stones were reused to build smaller dwellings on top of the earlier buildings. Until about the 8th century, the site was just a single farmstead.

In the 9th century, a Norse woman was buried at the site in a stone-lined grave with two bronze brooches and a sickle and knife made from iron. Other finds suggest that Norse men were buried here too.

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