VILNIUS - In Your Pocket

62 what to see
Europos Parkas
Europos Parkas (Open Air Museum of the
Centre of Europe) Joneikiškės, 10km north
of Vilnius, tel. (+370) 5 237 70 77, www.europosparkas.lt.
Founded in 1991 by the Lithuanian
sculptor Gintaras Karosas, this wildly different and
recommended countryside excursion brings together
a number of names in local and international sculpture
including Karosas himself, the Polish artist Magdalena
Abakanowicz as well as Dennis Oppenheim and the late
Sol Le-Witt from the United States to create a vision
that in the words of the park’s founder ‘…give[s] an
artistic significance to the geographic centre of the
European continent…’. Featuring close on 100 works
by artists from countries as diverse as Armenia, Japan
and Venezuela, the park is spread out over 55 hectares
of rolling hills and woodland and includes static and
interactive art as well as the now infamous Info Tree,
Karosas’ crumbling shrine to propaganda made up
of some 3,000 televisions with a prostrate Lenin at
its centre. With the addition of a restaurant and gift
shop, the park offers a splendid few hours away from
the city for people of all ages. To get there by car,
take Kalvarijų north to the Santariškės roundabout,
turn right towards the Green Lakes (Žalieji Ežerai) and
follow the signs. Buses leave from the Žalgirio stop on
Kalvarijų, including a minibus to Skirgiškės which goes
all the way to the park itself. Alternatively, bus N°36
goes part of the way there but requires the last couple
of kilometres to be made on foot. Q Open 10:00 - two
hours before sunset. Admission 25/11Lt.
Dennis Oppenheim. Drinking Structure with exposed
Kidney Pool
throughout the Soviet occupation. Watch closely as people
walking underneath say a silent prayer. The chapel is open
to the public and is accessed via a small door on the left as
you’re walking up the hill. Q Mass 07:30 (Latin), 09:00, 10:00
(Polish), 17:30 (Polish), 18:30, Sun 09:00 (Polish), 09:30,
11:00, 13:00 (Polish), 17:30 (Polish), 18:30. J
Green Bridge (Žaliasis Tiltas) H-3. A bridge of one
description or another has stood on the spot of the Green
Bridge since 1536. The current 103-metre metal construction
dates from 1952 and was originally named after a Red Army
general. The four groups of extraordinary sculptures at each
corner represent agriculture (3.2m, sculptors B. Bučas and P.
Vaivada), industry and construction (3.2m, sculptors N. Petrulis
and B. Vyšniauskas), peace (4m, sculptor B. Pundzius) and that
old Soviet chestnut, youth (3.2m, sculptors J. Mikėnas and J.
Kėdainis). One of a few examples of blatantly Soviet art still in
a public place, the Socialist Realist masterpieces have evaded
removal on the grounds that they represent no real people living
or dead. Criminally rusting and falling apart, something needs
to be done to ensure that they stay around for many years to
come. Meanwhile, underneath the bridge can be found Kunotas
Vildžiūnas’ contemporary work Grandinė (Chain). Yawn.
Hill of Three Crosses (Trijų Kryžių Kalnas) I-3.
Legend has it that long ago seven Franciscan monks were
crucified here. Originally erected in the 17th century, Stalin had
the crosses removed and buried, and only in 1989 were they
rebuilt according to the original plans. The crosses are a great
symbol of both Lithuanian mourning and hope. An excellent
view of Old Town is also to be found at this spot.
Kenesa F-3, Liubarto 6. The Lithuanian Karaite or Karaim are
the smallest ethnic historical community in Vilnius, with just 150
or so remaining members of a people who settled in the region in
the 14th century. The Karaite, from whom they get their name, are
a Jewish sect who can be traced back to Mesopotamia (modern
day Iraq) who adhere to the Old Testament and the Decalogue,
but don’t accept the Talmud. The Lithuanian Karaite were
originally Tatars living on the Black Sea, almost certainly Muslim
and who were converted to the Karaite faith in the 13th century.
Enigmatic and as yet not properly understood, the Lithuanian
Karaite, who number less than 500 nationwide, are on the edge
of extinction. During the Soviet occupation, their Moorish-looking
kenesa, built in 1922, was closed and made into a warehouse.
Like the country’s other remaining kenesa in Trakai, the building
is almost always locked.
Literatų Gatvė C-2/3, Literatų. Inspired by Aidas
Marčėnas’s poem Literatų Gatvė about a wistful young man
drinking and smoking with his friends on the street of the same
name, the highly recommended permanent outdoor gallery on
Literatų is dedicated to writers past and present who’ve all
left their mark on the city. Comprised of small, mixed-media
prints, drawings and paintings celebrating everyone from
Jonas Mekas to Czesław Miłosz to Romain Gary, the gallery,
all the work of local artists, grew from humble beginnings in
2008 and now features over 100 superb pieces.
M. K. Čiurlionis’ House (M. K. Čiurlionio Namai)
C-4, Savičiaus 11, tel. (+370) 5 262 24 51. Although more
famous for his painting, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis
(1875-1911) has quite a reputation as a composer. This is
the house in which the great man lived for a short time in
a small room that can be visited. The rest of the building,
which during Čiurlionis’ time was both a family house and
a shop, features reproductions of his paintings and a small
concert space which stages musical productions almost
every Wednesday evening. QOpen 10:00 - 17:00. Closed
Sat, Sun. Admission free. J
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