Rasos Cemetery to be restorated

On the restoration of the Rasos Cemetery (pl. Cmentarz Na Rossie, lit. Rasų kapinės) 20-30 million litai are needed. This sum was announced during the meeting of the Vilnius City Municipality (pl. Samorząd Miasta Wilno , lit. Vilniaus miesto savivaldybė). The capital government expects that money for the restoration will be given from the fund of the European Union.  

During the meeting with the mayor of Vilnius Artūras Zuokas was made a decision that at the beginning of 2015 will be prepared a technical project on the restoration of the Rasos Cemetery. Now the conception of the project is being equipped. 263 gravestones and monuments of the Rasos Cemetery were included to the list of objects of cultural heritage. Big dangers for the gravestones are trees surrounding the cemetery and subsidence of slopes.

In the Vilnius City Municipality was calculated that for the elaboration of the project on the restoration of the Rasos Cemetery 800 litai are needed, what is more about 20-30 million litai are needed for implementation.

The Rasos Cemetery is an open air museum, a place where you can acquaint yourself with the history of Vilnius and Lithuania. It was founded in 1801. The Cemetery consists of a few parts: Stara Rossa (old cemetery), Nowa Rossa (new cemetery) and Cmentarz Wojskowy (Military Cemetery) and Mauzoleum Matki i Serca Syna (The mausoleum of a mother and the heart of her son).

Within the area of 11 hectares are about 26 thousand of gravestones, monuments and tombs. Here are also buried professors of the Vilnius University (pl. Uniwersytet Stefana Batorego). There are graves of the archeologist and poet Eustachy Tyszkiewicz, the sculptor and architect Antoni Wiwulski, the painters Franciszek Gucewicz i Franciszek Smuglewicz, graves of two kids of Stanisław Moniuszki.At the cemetery are buried the father of the Lithuanian nation revival Jonas Basanavičius, the painter and composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, the poets Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas, Balys Sruoga, Petras Cvirka andlots of other significant personalities for Vilnius, Lithuania and Poland.