You can read in detail about the history, architecture and other attractions of Vilnius in the book "Sightseeing around Vilnius: micro-districts of the city". This is a publication about almost 60 areas of Vilnius. Information is provided about 21 boroughs of Vilnius (Antakalni, Fabijoniškes, Grigiške, Justiniške, Karoliniške, etc.) and smaller areas belonging to them. The texts of this book are mainly summaries of publications prepared using the works of various authors who wrote about Vilnius. They are indicated in the bibliography accompanying each text. The publication is illustrated with today's photos and old iconography, preserved in Lithuanian museums and libraries. The book is intended for schoolchildren and anyone interested in the city.
Vilnius is always different - romantic in the streets of its old town, dreamy in Vilnius In Užupi, reaching cloud in Šnipiškės, windy Fabijoniškės, mysterious Markučiai... Vilnius hides so many secrets and undiscovered places. Let's look around Vilnius together.
Tops
Viršuliškės are located on both sides of Laisvės avenue, in a place carved by low hills and valleys, separated from Žvēryn by a forest. This Vilnius microdistrict looks really unremarkable, but it is not as gray as it might appear at first glance.
Here, where the Viršuliškii high-rise buildings stand today, there used to be a village with a winding main street connecting it to Žvēryn. From this village came the Polish name "Wierszuliszki" and "Viršuliškės". This place name was found in the 1969th century. the document is in Polish, but the suffix -iskė, in the opinion of linguist, Doctor of Humanities Jonas Jurkštas, suggests that Viršuliškės could have existed as early as the 1975th century. or even earlier. It is believed that in ancient times this place belonged to the noble Viršila family, and the place name Viršuliškii can be associated with this historical person. The area was annexed to Vilnius in XNUMX. in XNUMX the first high-rise buildings of the Viršuliškii microdistrict were built. Today, only a few individual residential houses scattered in different parts of the area remind us of the village that used to be here.
The symbol of present-day Viršuliškii is the decorative sculpture "Giesmė" by the sculptor Vladas Kančiauskas, which is called "Gaidži" by the local residents, standing near the Viršuliškii township building.
After the restoration of Lithuania's independence in 1990, the construction of a parish house and a chapel began in Viršuliškės. An oak cross originally stood on the site of the future church, which was desecrated by evildoers. The restored cross was later installed in a 2 m high metal pipe. The construction of the Blessed Jurgis Matulaitis Church began in 1991.
Near the church, on the Sudervė road, there is a rather old Sudervė public cemetery and the Sudervė Jewish cemetery. Burials began in the Jewish cemetery around 1968. And in 1999, at the request of the Jewish community, the wall separating the two cemeteries was blindly bricked up. Do you know that the remains of the famous Vilnius Gaon and his relatives, as well as the prototype of Dr. Aiskaudas, doctor Cemachus Šabad, writer Shmuel Josif Fin and other notable Jews, moved from the abolished Vilnius Jewish cemetery, former On Holland Street? Unlike the Jewish cemetery, the Sudervė public cemetery has not yet received the attention of researchers. Several well-known people in Lithuania are also buried there: an electrochemist, Vilnius University professor Algimantas Levinskas, art critic Edvardas Pranckūnas, sculptor Steponas Sharapovas, journalist, TV presenter Ramūnas Bradūnas and others.
Viršuliški is separated from Karoliniškii by the Press Palace, built in 1983-1986. The tragic 1991 During the events of January 13, they were captured and fired upon by the Soviet army. Now various companies rent premises here. In commemoration of the 13th anniversary of the defense of Lithuania's freedom and the bloody events of January 20, 2011 January 11 a gray stone memorial plaque was unveiled near the Press Palace building. On the same day, a pink granite memorial plaque was unveiled at the building of the National Defense Volunteer Forces (formerly SKAT), which was destroyed on January 1991, 11. it was also forcibly occupied by the Soviet Union army.
Today, Viršuliške is a quiet and cozy area. There are some small patches of forest here. One of them is in the Lužių Park area. In the park, members of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party, commemorating the 110th anniversary of the party's founding, planted a grove of 110 oak trees, which they are maintaining and adding new trees...
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