Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania

Vilnius University, established in 1579, is the oldest and the largest university in Lithuania. Nowadays it includes 19 academic subdivisions, almost 3000 employees and more than 23700 students in total. The Vilnius University is one of the most important educational institutions in Lithuania which has operated for more than 400 years already. As a part of Lithuanian history, it also distinguishes in owning some objects of heritage of historic architecture. The Old ensemble of Vilnius university occupies an entire quarter of the Vilnius Old Town. As an architectural masterpiece, the old campus includes 12 buildings of gothic, renaissance, baroque and classicism styles, the Church of St. John and a Bell tower.

References:

way2lithuania.com

User Reviews

Romualdas Isoda (3 years ago)
Vilnius university takes an advantage to create an effective partnership with social partners and businesses acting as a bridge for industrial-academic cooperation and trying to respond to requests for joint or funded research from businesses and government. Partnership: Barclays Technologies (Center Limited Lithuanian Branch) Sensor Electronics Technology Inc. Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd Aixtron IBM TELE2 CERN MMT Reseach NERGAL

Maria Vizcaino (3 years ago)
Husband and I were surprised to realize that you have to pay to visit the university. I have never seen that anywhere and I really don’t think that is good practice. As an institution of learning and sharing knowledge, it should be open to everyone! Sure, the bell tower has a distinct function to see the city- so I would be ok to pay for that. In either case, though it was not much, we did not pay out of principle to go inside.

Jaak Geens (3 years ago)
Two Noble Price winners - for a small University that is great performance!

Ramunė Vaičiulytė (3 years ago)
Vilnius university has beautiful Observatory Courtyard. Actually, it is north side and building of old observatory with two cilindric towers. Monument of early Baroque, designed by Martin Knackfuss. :)

Mohamed najib Laaziz (3 years ago)
Apart from the great view from the bell tower, there is almost nothing to see at the university since every door is closed. All you Can see are courtyards. Good thing is that the entrance was very cheap. I recommend buying only tickets for the bell tower, unless you want to see a bunch of boring courtyards.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Giåm

Historic Site of the week

Glimmingehus

Glimmingehus is the best preserved medieval stronghold in Scandinavia. It was built 1499-1506, during an era when Scania formed a vital part of Denmark, and contains many defensive arrangements of the era, such as parapets, false doors and dead-end corridors, 'murder-holes' for pouring boiling pitch over the attackers, moats, drawbridges and various other forms of death traps to surprise trespassers and protect the nobles against peasant uprisings. The lower part of the castle's stone walls are 2.4 meters (94 inches) thick and the upper part 1.8 meters (71 inches).

Construction was started in 1499 by the Danish knight Jens Holgersen Ulfstand and stone-cutter-mason and architect Adam van Düren, a North German master who also worked on Lund Cathedral. Construction was completed in 1506.

Ulfstand was a councillor, nobleman and admiral serving under John I of Denmark and many objects have been uncovered during archeological excavations that demonstrate the extravagant lifestyle of the knight's family at Glimmingehus up until Ulfstand's death in 1523. Some of the most expensive objects for sale in Europe during this period, such as Venetian glass, painted glass from the Rhine district and Spanish ceramics have been found here. Evidence of the family's wealth can also be seen inside the stone fortress, where everyday comforts for the knight's family included hot air channels in the walls and bench seats in the window recesses. Although considered comfortable for its period, it has also been argued that Glimmingehus was an expression of "Knighthood nostalgia" and not considered opulent or progressive enough even to the knight's contemporaries and especially not to later generations of the Scanian nobility. Glimmingehus is thought to have served as a residential castle for only a few generations before being transformed into a storage facility for grain.

An order from Charles XI to the administrators of the Swedish dominion of Scania in 1676 to demolish the castle, in order to ensure that it would not fall into the hands of the Danish king during the Scanian War, could not be executed. A first attempt, in which 20 Scanian farmers were ordered to assist, proved unsuccessful. An additional force of 130 men were sent to Glimmingehus to execute the order in a second attempt. However, before they could carry out the order, a Danish-Dutch naval division arrived in Ystad, and the Swedes had to abandon the demolition attempts. Throughout the 18th century the castle was used as deposit for agricultural produce and in 1924 it was donated to the Swedish state. Today it is administered by the Swedish National Heritage Board.

On site there is a museum, medieval kitchen, shop and restaurant and coffee house. During summer time there are several guided tours daily. In local folklore, the castle is described as haunted by multiple ghosts and the tradition of storytelling inspired by the castle is continued in the summer events at the castle called "Strange stories and terrifying tales".

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