Multinational Vilnius
Vilnius is recognised as a multicultural city where various cultures and dialogues find expression. The Lithuanians, Belarusians, Poles, Jews, as well as Germans and Russians, Italians and Ukrainians, the French and Tatars created it. Also, the Austrians, English, Greeks, Spaniards and other nations worked there. Nonetheless, Vilnius is of special significance to only four ethnic groups – the Lithuanians, Belarusians, Poles and Jews – as the core of cultural achievements and historical aspirations, as well as the centre of the formation of their modern national identities.
In the Heart of Vilnius
Vilnius castles are the core of the city that rises on the hill near the confluence of the Neris and Vilnia Rivers. At the same time it is the core of entire Lithuania – the place where the old Lithuanian State was created, where Grand Dukes resided. The western tower of the Upper castle, mentioned in 1323 for the first time, is known as the Gediminas Tower – one of the most significant symbols of Vilnius and Lithuania. Flags of different states were hoisted on the Gediminas Tower throughout history, and since 1988 the Lithuanian three-colour flag has been flying there.
The Town of Gediminas
Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas (1275–1341) was one of the most distinguished rulers of old Lithuania. He is considered to be a symbol of the city of Vilnius, the Lithuanian nation and the Lithuanian State. The most distinguished Grand Dukes – Gediminas’ sons Algirdas and Kęstutis, Kęstutis’ son Vytautas, and Algirdas’ son Jagiello – belonged to the Gediminid dynasty. In 1386, when Jagiello became the King of Poland, the Jagiellonian dynasty of the Gediminid branch appeared, which was an influential political dynasty ruling Lithuania, Poland and Hungary in the 15th – the beginning of the 16th century.
Vilnius – a Capital of the Lithuanian National Revival
The Lithuanian national revival at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century is related to Vilnius to a great extent. In 1905, the Great Seimas of Vilnius demanded democratic changes and autonomy for Lithuania. Lithuanian intelligentsia concentrated there, the first legal Lithuanian newspapers were printed, and Lithuanian political parties and theatre groups operated. In 1907, the Lithuanian Scientific Society was founded headed by the historian, publicist Jonas Basanavičius who is referred to as the patriarch of the Lithuanian nation. In the same year the Lithuanian Art Society was established, which became a significant symbol of Lithuanian national identity and cultural potential. The world-famous painter and composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875–1911) contributed greatly to its establishment.
The “Singing Revolution”
Perhaps the most important event in the history of the world in the 20th century – the downfall of the citadel of communism – started in Vilnius, when in 1990 it was decided to “leave” the USSR and take the road of freedom. Sąjūdis meetings held in Vingis Park in 1988 became a symbol of the “singing revolution”. The Baltic Way was started in the Cathedral Square in 1989 and linked Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn with a live human chain. Barricades of 13 January 1991 constructed near the Seimas and pictures of the monument to Lenin being pulled down in Lukiškių Square flew round the world mass media and became symbols of the downfall of the Soviet empire and liberation.
Ruthenian Orthodox Believers in Vilnius
Most of the inhabitants of the multinational Grand Duchy of Lithuania were Orthodox believers who spoke the Ruthenian (the language of the Belarusian and Ukrainian ancestors) rather than the Lithuanian language. The “Ruthenian town” has been known in Vilnius since the 14th century where Orthodox churches and monasteries, printing houses and religious fraternities operated and residencies of the Ruthenian nobles and houses of merchants were built. In 1345, with support of Grand Duke of Lithuania Algirdas’ first wife, Maria, Princess of Vitebsk, the wooden Church of St. Parasceve (Piatnickaya) was built. This is one of the oldest monuments of the sacral architecture of Lithuania’s Orthodox believers and perhaps of Christians in Vilnius.
The Father of the Belarus Literature
The educationalist and humanist Franciscus Skorina (Skaryna, 1490–1541) referred to as “Vilnius Gutenberg” and father of Belarusian literature established the first printing house in Vilnius. In 1522 he printed the first printed book of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Small Book of Travels (in the Ruthenian language). The Ruthenian language played an important role in the society and culture of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and was the official language until it was replaced by the Polish language in 1697.
Belarusian Cultural Life in Vilnius
In the 19th - at the beginning of the 20th century Vilnius, with its clear Catholic tradition became the centre of attraction of the Belarusians as an alternative to Russian Orthodox Minsk. In 1906, the first legal Belarusian newspaper Naša dolia (Our Lot) was printed in Vilnius. The newspaper Naša niva (Our Soil, 1906–1915) printed in Vilnius had a great impact on the Belarusian national revival in which young Belarusian poets Janka Kupala, Jakub Kolas, Aloyza Paškevič (Ciotka) and others published their works. Vilnius, which was occupied by Poland in 1920–1939, again became a significant centre of Belarusian culture after the Belarus became apart of the USSR. The Belarusian Scientific Society, a gymnasium, the Museum of History headed by the politician and writer Anton Luckievicz, and the Belarusian Institute of Economy and Culture (1926–1936) were established in Vilnius. Many newspapers and magazines were printed, as well as several political organisations of various tendencies functioned there.
The picture of Mother of God in the Aušros Gate Chapel
The Poles find Vilnius of great importance. This is the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania which was greatly influenced by the Polish culture during the ages. One of the most significant symbols of the identity of the Poles, like that of the Lithuanians, has survived from the epoch of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in Vilnius – the picture of Mother of God in the Aušros Gate Chapel known to the Catholics and pilgrims of the world.
Horatius Sarmaticus
Poland and the Poles played an especially significant role in the process of Europeanisation of Lithuania, especially after the year 1569. The courts of the Ruler and the nobles, Catholic parishes and monasteries, as well as Vilnius University, were influenced by the Poles in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1627–1635, the Jesuit from Poland Mathias Casimirus Sarbievius taught theory of poetry and the art of public speaking at Vilnius University. He was the world famous poet, called “Horatius Sarmaticus” by his contemporaries. The collection of his lyrics “Four books of lyrics” (published in Vilnius in 1528) was issued in different European countries about 60 times – this is an unprecedented case.
Romanticism in Vilnius
Romanticism is the most important movement in the Polish history, which originated in Vilnius. A great poet Adam Mickiewicz was dreaming about the re-establishment of the common Polish and Lithuanian State, however, he did not try to imagine independent Lithuania. In his most famous poems written in the Polish language he extolled Lithuania of the Middle Ages, used Lithuanian and Belarusian motifs. Memory and traces of Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki perpetuated in present-day Vilnius (museums, memorial plaques, streets of the city, etc.) are important symbolic places of the identity of the Poles.
The Mother and Her Son’s Heart
When in 1920 Poland occupied Vilnius region by force, Vilnius became a Polish province until 1939. The occupation was largely connected to the creator of the independent Polish State (1918), Polish Marshal Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935). His heart was buried in Rossa Cemetery nearby his mother in Vilnius, while his body was buried in Krakow, Poland. The place became an important landmark of the Polish identity in Vilnius.
The Last Citizen of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Czesław Miłosz (1911–2004) was born according to him, in the “very heart of Lithuania”. In 1921–1940 he lived in Vilnius where he graduated from the University and made his debut as a poet. Later he lived in Poland, then in emigration where his poetry won him recognition all over the world. In 1980, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Lithuania’s nature, traditions, and respect for its historical and ethnic identity take a very important part in the creative work of Czeslaw Miłosz. Lithuania and its tragic fate are mentioned in his famous book Zniewolony umysł (The Captive Mind, 1953). The poet treated Lithuania as a separate cultural and political formation from that of Poland and called himself “the last citizen of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania”. In 1990–1991, he defended Lithuania’s interests in the press and everywhere else and became its honorary citizen.
Vilna Gaon Eliyyahu
Since the times of the Jewish spiritual leader Eliyyahu ben Shelomoh Zalman (1720–1797) Vilnius has become the centre of Jewish intellectual, cultural and political life. Due to his exceptionally good memory and abilities in theology, astronomy, algebra and other spheres, in the long run Eliyyahu was given the name of Gaon (genius). He was especially interested in the forgotten Talmud of Jerusalem and revived high-level studies of the Talmud. Gaon represented the rabbinical stream of the Talmud and spoke against Chasidism – a mystic and anti-ascetic tendency of Judaism, which was widely spread in Western Ukraine and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 18th century.
Input of Vilnius into the European Yiddish Culture
In the 19th century, Vilnius was a famous centre of Jewish culture and religious life. The Great Synagogue, a famous printing house of the Rom family, which published the Babylonian Talmud, operated there. In 1873, the Jewish Teachers’ Institute, the only one in the Russian Empire, was founded. In 1892 the famous library of Matitija Strashun was established. Jewish periodical publications: “Ha–Karmel” (in 1860–1880, in the Hebrew language), the first modern Yiddish magazine “Literarishe monatsshriftn” (since 1908) were issued. The sculptor Mark Antokolski (1843–1902), the violinist Jasha Heifetz, the artist Chaim Soutine, and many writers wrote in Hebrew and Yiddish languages.
Vilnius – European Capital of Culture
The historical centre of Vilnius declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1994 was presented to the world as a political centre of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of the 13th- the18th century, the scientific and cultural centre, the most easterly gothic, renaissance and baroque city of Europe where Eastern and Western cultures meet. Vilnius is the result of the development of the Baltic culture, however, its influence and significance is unquestionable to the history of Belarus, Ukraine and Poland. In 2009, Vilnius was declared a European capital of culture. This coincided with commemorating the thousandth anniversary of the first mention of Lithuania’s name (in 1009).
