18th September.
It's another warm sunny day, so
after checking in to the hotel and dumping my bags, head out to the old city of
Vilnius. The
hotel is just across the road from the apparently famous Gate of Dawn. It is
the only remaining gate of the several that once allowed passage through the
city wall and above it is a chapel with a Madonna icon which is widely
venerated. I think it was on the itinerary of the Polish pope.
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| Gate of the Dawn |
My understanding is that although
Vilnius was the
centre of the Lithuanian kingdom in the medieval period it had become a
predominantly Jewish/Polish city by the late 19th century.
According to Wikipedia
"By 1897 the population was 40% Jewish,
31% Polish, 20% Russian, 4.2% Belorussian and 2.1% Lithuanian. Jewish culture
and population was so dominant that some Jewish national revival leaders argued
for a new Jewish state to be founded in a Vilnius region, with a city as its
capital. These national revivals happened in Vilnius because it was one of the most
tolerant, progressive and liberal places in a region, legacy of the tolerance
deriving from the years of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania." and "In the years 1920-1939 Poles made
up 65% of the population, Jews 28%, 4% Russians, 1% Belorussians 1% Lithuanians.
Lithuanians therefore were a very marginal minority (less than 3% immediately
after World War I, and less than 1% later in the 1930s)."
The Nazi holocaust killed almost
the entire Jewish population and the following Soviet occupation caused most of
the Polish population to leave. Another beautiful city with a horrific history.
From the Gate of Dawn, it is a
lovely stroll through the old city, dominated by baroque churches. I think the
old city is more of a working city than that of either Riga
or Tallinn and
not quite so dominated by tourists although there are plenty.
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St. Casimir's, The First of Many Baroque Churches
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By late afternoon
I am in the main Cathedral Square.
Makes me wonder what all the other churches were for. How many massive churches
does a city need? Were they ever all full of worshippers? The cathedral itself
is magnificent and there is an associated bell tower.
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| The Cathedral and the Bell Tower |
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Classical front of the Cathedral
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Inside the cathedral this king appears to be going in
to battle with a furled umbrella |
Unlike St Isaac's in Saint
Petersburg, this one comes with plenty of health warnings and in signing the
guestbook I am confirming that I have read all the warnings, agree not to do
any of the forbidden things, and accept the consequences. It is a fair climb to
the top through the complicated wooden structure of the frame which holds the
bells, which are all driven by electric motors! There is a great view from the
top and as I am climbing down 5pm arrives and all the bells start ringing. They
don't send me mad but they are loud and they can't be ignored!
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| One of the Bells |
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| Wooden structure of the bell frame |
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| View of part of Modern Vilnius across the River |
Back at ground level, the
Lithuanian army is rehearsing for some event, marching up and down, banging
their drums and playing their bugles. Noticed that a lot of the people in the
Baltic republics look quite Nordic, with naturally blond hair and blue eyes. In
the case of the women there are quite a few Paris Hilton look alikes and I
wonder whether what appears to be natural blondness is just due to better hair
colouring than in Russia.
But I don't think that applies to the guys in the army. Do they select the men
for the ceremonial stuff for their good looks, blue eyes and blond hair?
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| Lithuanian Army |
Not long after the army finishes marching up and down, I see a hot air balloon rising above the square and then another until there is a whole bunch of them. I feel there should be an appropriate collective noun for a group of balloons, maybe fall back on the patent jargon catch-all of a "plurality" of balloons?
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| Balloons rising over the Bell Tower |
Walk down to the river which is very pleasant and across to the other side where most of the buildings are new. Quite a contrast.
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| The Vilna River |
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| Modern Apartments on the other side of the River |
Later in the evening, walk into
the main tourist area in search of dinner. Forto Doras looks popular and does
local food so I go there where I share a table with a German couple, both
retired, about my age who have come here with a foundation for promoting democracy.
We have an interesting conversation in which they share their views about the
intense nationalism in the Baltic republics and their fear that it could prove
very destructive. They point out how small the populations of the three Baltic
states are, Estonia <1.5
million, Latvia 2 million
and Lithuania
3 million. I hadn't realised the numbers were so low. Tiny even by Singapore standards, about 5.5 million
19th September.
Went to the station to get my
ticket to Kaunas
tomorrow (22 Lita, about US$8.2 ) and discovered that there is a small railway
museum in the station. It doesn't compare with the one in Beijing but it has a few things of interest.
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| Water heater in the Railway Museum is exactly the same as the ones on the Chinese Mongolian and Russian trains still running. The mug is the same as the Russian passengers were using. So much smarter than my plastic one from Wal Mart |
Most of the information is in Lithuanian and English. Strange, since many of
the exhibits are either from imperial Russia
or Soviet Union days. I can understand why the
significant Russian minority might feel excluded; it looks deliberate. If Silicon
Valley can have signs in English Spanish Chinese and Vietnamese, why can't Vilnius manage Lithuanian, Russian English
and maybe even Polish? I can understand the backlash against the Russification
during the Soviet era but repeating the injustice in reverse doesn't look
likely to create a happy, harmonious society.
From the railway museum, head
back into the old city and find some of the city wall which looks remarkably
new. I guess there is a narrow line to be drawn between re-creating a medieval
city square as they have done in Riga,
which is undoubtedly better than what was there before, and re-building a city
wall and bastion. Where does it turn into a medieval theme park.
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| Suspiciously new looking City Wall |
Continue to explore the small streets off the main tourist drag
where there are still many buildings looking for some loving care and attention.
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| Typical Side Street with Beautifully Restored Buildings |
Stop for a bite to eat at a small restaurant
with tables outside. I wanted to try the stuffed potatoes,
"Zeppelins" but the waiter tells me they will take half an hour so I
settle for the mushroom soup which proves to be a good choice since it is
clearly made with real mushrooms, hopefully like those I have seen being sold
at the side of the road; the waiter assures me they are fresh. "It is the
season" he says.
At the end of the street there is a map showing that this was
one of two ghettos created by the Nazis into which all the Jews of Vilnius,
about 30 000 were incarcerated. The able bodied and skilled were put in one
ghetto, the, old, infirm and children were put in the other. This last group
were murdered within months and the ghetto was closed. Those in the other
ghetto survived longer, doing work to support the Nazi war machine but as the
war drew to a close they too were murdered. Only a few hundred of the Jewish
population of Vilnius
are thought to have survived. Before the war Vilnius had over 100 synagogues; now it has
one.
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| The Great Choral Synagogue. The only one remaining in Vilnius |
The historic
University of Vilnius
is in the centre of the city and includes among its buildings yet another
spectacular baroque church. For some reason I had never associated Baroque with
this part of
Europe but it was obviously
incredibly popular. Its over-the-top
extravagance, flamboyance and flowery exuberance have never particularly
appealed to me but I can't help but admire the imagination of the designers and
the craftsmanship of the artisans. I
often wonder what the nobles or priests who sat down one day and said
"Lets build a baroque cathedral", either a new one or a rebuilding of
an older edifice were thinking. Was it to glorify God? To
glorify the
church, glorify themselves, to convince the locals of the power of God and the
church or to prove their power and wealth to their rivals? Mine's bigger and better than yours! Was it just
something that was expected of you if you reached or inherited such an exalted
position in society?
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| An Extravaganza of Baroque |
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| And an Impressive Organ |
The baroque cathedral occupies
one side of a beautiful courtyard in the university and it is obviously a
functional university with groups of students wandering around and lecturers
wearing academic gowns. This may have been a special day since there are tables
laid out with coffee and nibbles.
Also in the university complex is
a bookshop with wonderful ceiling frescoes, done in the 1970s I think, and even more amazing frescoes in a room of the
Centre of Lithuanian Studies. Amazingly
these weird, almost nightmarish, paintings intended to show an age of chaos and
disorder were done during the Soviet era
when such unconventional artistic
expressions could send you to a mental institution. Can't imagine many British
vice chancellors taking kindly to the idea of such murals in one of their
departments.
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| Ceiling Frescoes |
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| This guy had a weird imagination |
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| Did this or the three dancers in the Riga Park come first? |
From the university, I went
down to the cathedral square again where
the army were doing their ceremonial duties for real, with a raft of
dignitaries watching and lots of military police keeping the rest of us out of
the square. This time they had sailors as
well as the army.
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| Hello Sailor |
After they finished I went up the funicular to the remains of the
castle at the top of the hill. Fantastic view but not much to seen apart from
the views. Walked down. Wouldn't want to try it in icy or even wet weather
since the rounded cobble stones were not foot friendly even in the dry.
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| Castle on the Hill |
Walking
back towards the hotel I came across a small street parade but never found out
what it was about.
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| Street Parade |
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| Street Parade |
In the evening went out to a
place suggested in the free guide, not far from the hotel but once away from
the tourist zone, the streets look quite grey and forbidding. I think too long
living in Singapore
has convinced me that any building without illuminated shop windows should be
painted in bright colours and floodlit as being of historical significance.
Walk past the place once before realising my mistake. Inside, it is a very
blokeish bar where everyone is drinking pints of beer. I order a beer and the
sausages which are good pub grub. Just after sitting down with my beer the
larger of the two barmen strong arms one of the patrons out through the door.
The now ex-patron leaves quietly. Not sure whether this is in the face of
overwhelming force or the ejection is a put up job "pour encourager les
autres". I resolve not to complain.
