Over the 700 years of its existence, the face of Vilnius changed many times, particularly in the early 19th century. A new exhibition is bringing the past to life, writes Marek Grzegorczyk of Emerging Europe. Currently celebrating its 700th birthday, contemporary Vilnius is a dynamic city which has in recent years become known for its starring role in several productions, including HBO’s Chernobyl.
A study undertaken by the National Museum of Lithuania has revealed how the city looked 200 years ago, in the form of a model made back in the 19th century, recording to the smallest detail the face of a city that would soon change fundamentally. This unexpected historical discovery has now been restored and is currently being displayed by the National Museum of Lithuania in a pavilion entitled “Vilnius 200 Years Ago” made possible using more than 50 archival drawings.
Preparing such material 200 years ago was a complicated task and would have taken several years to complete. Documenting the city was carried out simply by walking the streets, drawing and sketching every façade, window, door, and roof. Later, the model would be assembled from small wooden panels. The National Museum’s director Dr. Rūta Kačkutė explained that scientists have been able to determine that it was created for military purposes.
“At the time, Lithuania had lost its statehood and was part of the Tsarist Empire. The Tsarist government feared unrest and had just put down the 1831 Uprising. Having the entire city before their eyes was very important.”
The model sketches are a priceless historical resource. They demonstrate, to the finest degree, the details of the era’s façades, and even the city’s array of colours. The differences between now and 200 years ago are astonishing: not every place familiar to Vilniusites and discovered by tourists today are immediately recognizable.
The development of the city in that period was still quite archaic, with narrow streets and rural suburbs. The Old Town was much denser, with outbuildings still standing alongside homes. These were later demolished, and such medieval features as city gates and defensive walls, still visible in the model, vanished. The most noticeable detail is that the model still lacks Gediminas Avenue, which pierced the Old Town like an arrow, or the imperial Naujamiestis (New Town), and the streets along the Neris River, today lined with historical buildings, then marking the outskirts of the city, complete with sprawling garden plots.
The model also contains signs of what was a complicated period for the Lithuanian state. The Tsarist government had placed cannons aimed outward at the city on Gediminas Hill, today considered a symbol of Lithuanian statehood.
For many years, the entire area around the hill was an inaccessible fortress, but today it is the most visited site in Vilnius. The model also shows huge ditches dug into Gediminas Hill and platforms for the cannons.
“The model created 200 years ago was very precisely documented. This allowed us to convert the drawings into a 3D version and recreate it using contemporary methods. To exhibit it, we chose an exceptional architectural solution: the creation of an accessible pavilion in a public city space. By doing so, we not only stepped outside traditional museum spaces, we also blended into the fabric of the city,” said project director Asta Ivanauskienė.
The 19th century model of Vilnius will be on display until October 15 at the National Museum of Lithuania’s Vilnius 200 Years Ago Pavilion, opened to celebrate the city’s 700th anniversary. Admission is free and the experience has been adapted for foreign tourists. Audio narratives exploring the model have been recorded in Lithuanian, Polish, and English.
