Dubbed ‘Sands Church’ after the quarter in which it stands, this 15th-century Franciscan church has a varied history – it was a hospital for the French army in 1812 and housed the state archives from 1864 to 1934 and 1949 to 1989. Returned to the Franciscans in 1998, it has been the object of years of painstaking restorations.
Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¼´Ê±¿ª½±'s must-see attractions
Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania
0.53 MILES
If you only see one museum in Vilnius, make it this one. On a site that has been settled since the 4th century AD stands the latest in a procession of…
0.49 MILES
Stately Vilnius Cathedral, divorced from its freestanding belfry, is a national symbol and the city's most instantly recognisable building. Known in full…
0.35 MILES
Founded in 1579 during the Catholic Counter Reformation, Vilnius University was run by Jesuits for two centuries. During the 19th century it became one of…
0.69 MILES
This former headquarters of the KGB (and before them the Gestapo, Polish occupiers and Tsarist judiciary) houses a museum dedicated to thousands of…
0.46 MILES
Climb the creaky stairs into the free-standing belfry of Vilnius Cathedral, once part of the city's 13th-century defences. Towering 57m high, it's one of…
14.06 MILES
Stepping across the wooden walkway to Trakai's Gothic castle is like tripping into a fairy tale. The castle is estimated to date from around 1400, when…
10.72 MILES
Some 21km north of Vilnius, off the Utena road, is Europos Parkas. Leading contemporary sculptors, including Sol LeWitt and Dennis Oppenheim, show over…
0.44 MILES
Katedros aikštė buzzes with local life. In the 19th century markets and fairs were held here and a moat ran around what is now the square’s perimeter so…
Nearby Vilnius attractions
1. Theatre, Music & Cinema Museum
0.08 MILES
Artefacts of Lithuanian song, stage and screen are the stars of this museum. Three centuries of notable instruments – including the pūslinė (a primitive…
2. Evangelical Lutheran Church
0.1 MILES
Hidden in a courtyard, this revamped church is home to Vilnius’ tiny Protestant community. The church dates from 1555 but displays a mixture of Gothic,…
0.12 MILES
This twin-towered 18th-century church, rich with baroque and Rococo detail, was once part of a Benedictine monastery. Damaged in WWII and used for storage…
0.13 MILES
Opened in October 2018, this assemblage of contemporary Lithuanian art and photography is the country's first private museum. An orderly union of sharp…
0.14 MILES
The Great Synagogue of Vilna, built in the 1630s on the site of an earlier synagogue, was destroyed by the Soviets in the 1950s, after the Nazis had a go…
0.15 MILES
Lithuania’s oldest church, this red-brick Gothic pile was built by German Christians around 1320, when the country was still pagan. From 1901 to 1939 it…
7. Site of the Strashun Library
0.15 MILES
Once one of the world's largest and most important collections of rabbinical and other Judaic writing, the Strashun was looted and destroyed by the Nazis.
8. House of Gaon Elijahu Ben Shlomo Zalman
0.17 MILES
A plaque marks the former house of the famous 18th-century Talmudic scholar and his bust stands nearby.