Letter - June 7, 2010

Cathedral of St. Stanislaus and St. Vladislav in Vilnius

Church of St. Anne's, next to (the orange) Church of St. Francis and St. Bernardine

Church of St. Anne's

Petro and Povilo Church (St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church)

Churches! Bažnycios!

Here is a little trivia on some of Vilnius' Churches:

Vilnius has tons of historic Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches. It used to have more Synagogues, but many of those were destroyed around the time of the Second World War. We spent some time last Monday visiting around. The first church we visited was the Cathedral of St. Stanislaus and St. Vladislav. Buried underneath the Cathedral are Vytautas the Great, Lithuania's most famous ruler, and wife of Zygimantas Augustas, Queen Elisabeth of Austria (The Hapsburg.) Lithuania's history is very tied to the history of Poland, having shared a monarchy and their love of the Catholic religion for some time. There are statues of the Evangelists at the very front of the building. They're very Greek, and very macho. I like it when righteous men are portrayed as having rippling muscles, hair waving in the wind, with a drawn sword and a facial expression that could cause any evil-doer to shiver.

Secondly, we stopped by the Church of St. Anne's. This church is in a Gothic-style, with twisting and turning spires of brick. Legend has it, that Napoleon so loved this Church that he wanted to take it home to France in the palm of his hand, or so I've been told by at least three Lithuanians. The reality, I learned, was that when the Napoleonic army came through Lithuania, that this church was consigned to the French Cavalry forces. This church has been exactly as it stands for 500 years. That's a long time.

Joined to the Church of St. Anne's is the church of St. Francis and St. Bernardine. This church was built a bit later, the interior being finished in the 17th century. It's interior was gorgeous. It's a pity though, that the organ is always in the back of the church, where the congregation can't see during the services. I often think that is the best view.

We also visited the Churches of St. Nicholas, and also a Russian Orthodox Church by the name of The Assumption Virgin Cathedral. It's very interesting to me to note the style differences between Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox. There are no pews, the art is very different. Everything was focused on the Virgin Mary, fitting with the name.

I would have to say that my favorite church, however, was one recommended to me by an Elder Havens. Petro and Povilo Church is a Baroque chapel with the most expressive sculptured interior I've ever seen. Every inch of this church is packed with original art. It seems that none of the art was cast from a mold. Every face has a different expression. There are tons of flowers, animals, and bible characters hiding in the walls of this church. It's like a huge Bacchanalian garden party. On one side of the door is a fleshy duke, bidding adieu to the patrons. Directly opposite is a standing skeleton wearing similar garb. I didn't take pictures out of respect for the worshippers, but I definitely want to go back sometime.