Welcome to Vilnius European Capital of Culture 2009

The city’s coat-of arms represent St. Christopher wading through water and carrying the baby Jesus on his shoulders. The city was conferred the coat-of-arms in 1330.
In the Greek language ‘St. Christopher’ means “Christbearer”. He is thought to have lived in the 3rd century. Legend states that St. Christopher was sentenced to death by Emperor Decius for spreading Christianity in Lycia and died a martyr’s death. Having accepted Christ through baptism, St Christopher remained faithful to him though he had to sacrifice his life for his Christian faith.
According to the Golden Legend, Christopher wanted to serve the Almighty and looked for him everywhere. Finally a saint hermit told him that Christopher could serve Christ by carrying travellers across a rapid river in flood, and then Christ might appear to him. Christopher did so. One night a small boy woke him up and asked Christopher to carry him across a river. Christopher set the boy on his shoulders and started wading. A storm broke, the child was becoming heavier and heavier, and they nearly drowned. Having carried the child to safety across the river and placed him on the other side, Christopher asked the boy who he was. The boy answered that he was Christ who carried misfortunes of the entire world in his hands.
Lithuanian folk art represents St. Christopher wading through the water, leaning upon a stick, carrying the baby Christ, who is blessing people with one hand and holding the globe in the other, on his shoulders.

THE LEGEND OF THE FOUNDING OF VILNIUS

This legend relates to Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania whose monument stands in Cathedral Square.
Grand Duke, Gediminas, was on a hunting trip in the forests of Šventaragis valley around the mouth of the River Vilnia. When night fell, the party, feeling tired after a long and successful hunt, decided to set up camp and spend the night there. While he was asleep, Gediminas had an unusual dream in which he saw an iron wolf at the top of the mountain where he had killed an European bison that day. The iron wolf was standing on the top of a hill with its head raised proudly towards the moon, howling as loud as a hundred wolves. Awakened by the rays of the rising sun, the Duke remembered his strange dream and consulted the pagan priest Lizdeika about it. The latter interpreted the dream as follows: ‘Let that happen to the Ruler and the Lithuanian State what was fated to happen!’ He told the Duke that the dream was a direction to found a city among these hills. The howling of the wolf, explained the priest, represented the fame of the future city: that city will be the capital of Lithuanian lands, and its reputation would spread far and wide, as far as the howling of the mysterious wolf…’ So the Grand Duke of Lithuania, obeying the will of gods, immediately started to build the future capital, and took it the name – Vilnius – from the stream of the rapid Vilnia.

1323 Grand Duke of Lithuania Gedimin choose Vilnius as the capital of the principality of Lithuania.

1387 Granted city rights.

1579 The city's university founded; it’s the oldest one in Lithuania.

1569 Union of Lithuania and Poland the city now became recognized as a centre not only of Polish culture but also of Jewish learning.

1655  In flames and captured by Russian forces, the city was plundered and the population was massacred.

1769 Rasos Cemetery one of the oldest surviving cemeteries in the world was founded. The cemetery is the final rest for many famous people from the past up until today.

1796 Incorporated into the Russian Empire.


1812 Seized by Napoleon I on his move forwards to Moscow.

1831 The November Uprising against the Russians. University of Vilnius was closed due to Russian repression.

1863 The January Uprising against the Russians brutally pacified, by Mikhail "the Hangman" Muravyov. Local language was banned due to the Russian supremacy. Many deported to Siberia.
1915-1918 Occupied by German forces during World War I.

1920 Became a part of the Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR).

1920 Poland forces reoccupied the city.

1939 The USSR captured the city.

1940 Became the capital of the newly formed Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic SSR.

1941- 1944 Occupied by German forces during World War II.

1991 Continuing to be the capital, but now to the newly independent Lithuania.

2004 Member of NATO and a member of the EU.