10 most important places of political history in Vilnius

Vilnius became the capital of Lithuania seven hundred years ago. Hence, Vilnius has been the epicentre of many political events of importance to both its own state and the whole Central Eastern Europe. The site of the Upper and the Lower castles (1) and Vilnius Cathedral (2) was not only the major urban landmark of the city but also the place of making political decisions that were of significance to the entire Grand Duchy of Lithuania. At the end of the 14th century, after Magdeburg Law became established in Vilnius, the Town Hall (3) became an important place of making political decisions. It remained the central axis of the town life until the last days of the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Republic in 1794. After the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had been finally divided between Russia, Prussia and Austria, the Governor-General’s Palace (4), which currently houses the Presidential Palace, became the site of the most significant political decisions. The residence of the Governor-General together with Lukiškes Square (5), in which the leaders of the 1863 – 1864 uprising were hanged, became the symbol of Lithuania’s annexation to Russia and the 120-year long Tsarist oppression. Vilnius played an important role in re-establishment of Lithuania’s Independence at the end of the First World War. The Council of Lithuania gathered at the current House of the Signatories (6) on 16 February 1918 and signed the Act of Independence of Lithuania. However, at the end of December 1918, before the Russian Army invaded Vilnius, in the building of the current National Philharmonic Society (7), local communists declared the manifesto for the formation of the Lithuanian provisional government of workers and peasants and the introduction of the Soviet power in the country. Vilnius failed to become the capital of a modern Lithuanian Republic as the city was officially incorporated into Poland in 1922 when the so-called Vilnius Seimas gathered in the former Polish Theatre (8) and solemnly adopted the declaration on unconditional incorporation of Central Lithuania into Poland. In the Soviet times Vilnius became the centre of the Lithuanian national liberation movement that started at the end of the 1980s. The movement was headed by the Lithuanian Reform Movement (Sąjūdis). Its first congress was held in Vilnius Sports Palace (9) on 22-23 October 1988. The liberation movement reached its climax on 11 March 1990 when the deputies of the Supreme Council – the Reconstituent Parliament (10) adopted the Act on the Re-establishment of the State of Lithuania.