Vilnius downtown is being renovated

The Gediminas Hill and the Upper Castle of the Vilnius Castle Complex. The renovation process will include maintaining remains of the southern and northern towers in the Upper Castle as well as the castle’s defensive wall.

A state-owned company Lietuvos paminklai (Lithuanian Monuments) announced that the renovation process would include removing malfunctions, as well as maintaining and renovating the southern and northern towers in the Upper Castle.

According to the tender documents, the southern tower will have its stairs removed and its southern wall will have a retrenchment consisting of big stones, remains of an authentic wall will be renovated and maintained, and other things will be done in order to reproduce the defensive wall and the northern tower in the Upper Castle, as well as to preserve them for future generations.

Only specialists certified by the Department of Cultural Heritage will be able to participate in the renovation process. The submission for participation in the renovation process deadline is Monday, July 28.

Eglė Pekarskaitė of the National Museum of Lithuania in Vilnius said that the renovation process is a part of the second stage of the project, to which 1,4 million litas was to be subscribed.

“The Renovation of the Gediminas Hill and the Upper Castle of theVilnius Castle Complex” project began in 2010 and is to be concluded this year. It is financed by the State Investment Programme.

The Gediminas’ Tower is the western tower of Upper Castle of theVilnius Castle Complex, which was built in the Gothic style in 1409, during the reign of Vytautas. The brick castle with three towers replaced the wooden fortress that had already existed in the 14^th century, during the reign of Gediminas.

The Upper Castle burned in 1419 but was rebuilt. Since the reign of Alexander Jagiellon, there was a bell foundry in the castle, as well as a prison in the dungeons. Sigismund II Augustus restored the castle, where he located his library. In 1655, the castle was captured by Russians. Over the years, it decayed.

Only the Gediminas’s Tower have been preserved till our time. In 1938-1939, Polish conservator-restorers renovated the tower and restored the third floor. Another renovation occurred in 1948-1950.

Based on BNS and our own research.