2012, SEPTEMBER 11: LITHUANIA, VILNIUS - SAINTS PETER & PAUL CHURCH

With clear blue sky and 77-degrees Fahrenheit temperature, it was perfect day for our sightseeing tour of the Old Town of Vilnius.

Vilnius

With 74 quarters, 70 streets and lanes, and 1487 buildings, the Old Town of Vilnius is one of the largest surviving medieval old towns in Central Europe. Aptly granted the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site, area depicts some of Europe's greatest architectural styles, including - gothic, renaissance, baroque and neoclassical. 

Old Town Vilnius (Open Stock Picture)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From our hotel we headed north to cross a bridge over River Neris, to reach the Saints Peter and Paul Church. On the way, we passed by Gediminas Hill, topped by a red-brick tower, which marks the site where Vilnius was founded. It now houses the Upper Castle Museum.

 

 

                                                                   Upper Castle, Vilnius

 

 

                                                                                                                                              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Saints Peter and Paul Church is not as impressive from the outside, as its rich baroque interior.

 

 

 

 

 

                       Saints Peter & Paul Church, Vilnius

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside all walls, ceilings, columns, arches, and niches are embellished with about 2000 white stucco sculptures, relief work and decorative panels. They depict scenes from the New Testament, the lives of the saints and Lithuanian history. The effect is simply stunning.

 

 

 

The Saints Peter and Paul Church stands on the site of the city’s first wooden structure built by the Grand Duke Władysław II Jagiełło, who ruled Lithuania from 1377–1434, according to Wikipedia. He had built that structure in 1387, after his and Lithuania’s conversion to Christianity.