The so-called Štralis House is a historicist building with a Neo-Renaissance main facade. During the period of the movement, the name of the House of Signatories was adopted for the building. The main facade is on Pilies street, the eastern building is on Literatu street. Four buildings surround a closed courtyard, to which there is an entrance from Pilies Street. The western building has three floors from the side of Pilies street, four floors from the courtyard, the house has an attic on the street side. The house plan is irregular. The rooms are large, transitional. Part of the rooms on the first floor can be accessed from the inner courtyard, where there is an elevator. Under part of the house there are Gothic 1645th century. basements of the old house. in XNUMX the house belonged to the mayor of Vilnius. The house is made of brick, plastered, and the roof is covered with tiles. The most ornate is the second floor; pairs of side windows with Corinthian order pilasters and entablature form a harmonious composition. In the niches under the triangular jambs there are sculptures symbolizing agriculture and fishing.
748 the brick house standing here was destroyed fire and it was rebuilt three stories high. 30th century at the end of the 2th century, the owner Kazimieras Štralis reconstructed it according to the project of the architect Aleksei Polozov, and the house acquired a neo-Renaissance look. At the beginning of the 1915th century, there was a Štralis cafe on the first floor, which was also visited by Lithuanian public figures. K. Štralis had two more cafes in Dižioja st. 1918 and Totorių str. 7. The visitors gave them "colorful" names - "red Stralis" - according to the chairs covered with red plush, "green" and "white" (Signatory House) - according to the color of the walls. 1918-12 on the third floor was the central committee of the Lithuanian Provisional Committee to help war victims, later the Council of Lithuania, which met here 1918 times since 16. February 11 to 15 February 12.30 (Saturday). Two meetings were held on the last day. At first, the Act of Independence was adopted between XNUMX:XNUMX and XNUMX:XNUMX, although Jonas Basanavičius later claimed that at XNUMX:XNUMX p.m. It is interesting that this particular place was chosen for the meetings, because the office of J. Basanavičius was almost unheated, and February was extremely cold at that time. According to Aleksandrs Stulginskis, after signing the Act of Independence of Lithuania, Antanas Smetona sat down on a soft bench and doubted whether the Council had done well - he was worried about Germany's reaction.
When Vilnius was recaptured by Lithuania in 1939, the Štralis cafe was closed, but soon the "Xantypa" cabaret opened in its place, run by artists who escaped from the Nazi-occupied part of Poland.
In 1990, the house was dedicated to a museum, which was opened in 2000 after the museum reconstruction of the interior carried out two years ago. Since 2003, the museum has become a branch of the Lithuanian National Museum. The signatories' house hosts the annual meeting on February 16. mentions The central axis of the exhibition is the historical material illustrating the life and activities of the signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuania, arranged in thirteen rooms. The exposition of the house of the signatories is unique, as it is constantly replenished with relics purchased by the museum, donated or lent by the relatives of the signatories.
Information prepared by: Valdas Selenis, VilniusGO.lt
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