Views of old Vilnius
The city as painted before it changed.
Gintarė Grigėnaite — CC BY-SA 4.0 · holmsius — CC BY 3.0 · Barzdonas at Lithuanian Wikipedia — Public domain · Barzdonas at Lithuanian Wikipedia — Public domain
A network of museums rather than one building: the Lithuanian National Museum of Art runs several branches in Vilnius, the best known being the Picture Gallery in the Chodkiewicz Palace in the old town, showing Lithuanian art from the sixteenth to the early twentieth century, the contemporary National Gallery of Art on the riverbank, the Amber Museum and the Radvila Palace. In the Picture Gallery you see portraits of the Grand Duchy's nobility and views of old Vilnius as it was painted before the city changed, along with work from the Vilnius art school, which trained the painters of Lithuania, Poland and Belarus together in the nineteenth century. The newest branch is the internationally best known: the National Gallery of Art with its bold temporary exhibitions and contemporary collection — a building shortlisted for European architecture prizes. Each branch is ticketed separately, with a combined pass for anyone visiting more than one.
The city as painted before it changed.
Contemporary, in a prize-shortlisted building.
Didžioji g. 4, Vilnius
Church Heritage MuseumA museum in a former seventeenth-century church and convent, showing the treasur3 minutes walk4.6
Vilna Gaon MonumentA monument to Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, known as the Vilna Gaon, among the most4 minutes walk4.4
The Church of St AnneThe church Napoleon wanted to carry to Paris: St Anne's (1500) is the summit of 4 minutes walk4.9
Presidential Palace, VilniusThe official residence of the president of Lithuania, in a neoclassical palace o5 minutes walk4.7
The Republic of UžupisA district that declared itself an independent republic as a joke — and the worl6 minutes walk4.7For historic Lithuania: the Picture Gallery in the old town. For contemporary art and the architecture: the National Gallery on the riverbank, which is the stronger display.