A visit to Vilnius is full of surprises — and they are unexpectedly happy ones. For one, that an ancient seat of learning can also be exuberantly beautiful: the old town, a Unesco World Heritage Site, is currently being used by a film crew to double for Imperial Vienna.
Another surprise: instead of the austerity I expected from an Eastern European capital, the people of Vilnius are positively hedonistic.
And, given that thousands of Jews were annihilated along with nearly all proof of their existence during the Second World War, the biggest surprise of all was that a rare survivor could be celebrating her centenary during my visit to the city — in the midst of a vibrant Jewish community, which once again is playing an important role in the life of the city.
Given how astonishingly inexpensive it is to reach from the UK — and its growing reputation as a party town — Vilnius seems set to become the next Prague or Amsterdam once the secret is fully out.
The time to go is before the city’s 700th birthday celebrations next year, although plan a return visit to see the renovation of the famous Great Synagogue site, set for completion in 2026. It’s the biggest commitment yet by the city fathers to put a rich Jewish heritage, which is commemorated every September 23 in a national day of remembrance, at centre stage of its cultural offerings.
There is already a digital re-creation of the most influential shul in Eastern Europe. Visitors can stand on the lawn opposite what is now a derelict school and view projections of how it looked from every angle, inside and out.
Mural of Jewish news-selleers, Vilnius CREDIT Anthea Gerrie
Mural of Jewish news-sellers (Photo: Anthea Gerrie)
The history of the city is being re-told in all sorts of innovative ways. In the recent Walls That Remember initiative, pre-war boy vendors of the local Jewish newspaper are among the subjects drawn on the walls and brought to life via an app telling their stories, while in the Talking Sculpture project, a fictional doctor from the Jewish Hospital in the old town is one of the statues who recounts his tale when his voice is triggered by scanning a QR code.
The doctor stands close to a Jewish information centre outside which old photographs relate what befell the community members: their central neighbourhoods became two ghettos from which they were moved in groups to the nearby forest at Paneriai to be murdered.
The ghetto boundaries are clearly marked, as are signs for the principal streets within them, forming the Glass Quarter over which a monument to the eminent Talmudist the Vilna Gaon stands sentinel. Today, it once again hums with commercial life thanks to a tempting string of cafes and artisan boutiques.
The story of 700 years of Jewish life in Vilnius is also told on panels in the Museum of Tolerance just off Pylimo Street, an important boulevard for heritage and culture vultures. Look for the Lola café on the corner of Naugarduko Street, where shakshuka and hummus are dispensed to an international crowd, before heading uphill to find the museum, with its small collection of Judaica and works by Jewish artists.
Then return to Pylimo to find, in opposite directions, the striking MO Museum of Modern Art designed by Daniel Libeskind, the Choral Synagogue with its beautiful baroque interior and the Jewish Bakery, where teiglach and hamantaschen as well as several kinds of bagel were in abundance when I visited — a notice warned they would be closing for a group bar/batmitzvah simchah later that day.
Choral synagogue, Vilnius CREDIT Anthea Gerrie
Choral Synagogue (Photo: Anthea Gerrie)
While the shul and the bakery are a bit of a schlep on foot from the old town, the two museums are easily reached within less than 15 minutes’ stroll of the delightful central thoroughfare of Pilies, where the Narutis Hotel makes an elegant and convenient base. Old world in feeling, it is a conversion of several historic buildings, their faded frescoes revealed on exposed corridor walls here and there.
My room overlooking the lively street recalled a more gracious age with its floor-to-ceiling chintz curtains and exceptionally spacious bathroom with a deep tub, double sinks and a draped table on which to lay out toiletries.
Food at the hotel’s restaurant was excellent, and the menu another nice surprise. Heimish fare such as chilled borscht with smetana appeared at dinner, while schmaltz herring, smoked salmon and fresh blintzes with sour cream and cherry compote were stars of the breakfast buffet.
Even at the hip Queensberry restaurant off Town Hall Square, I was served an elegant version of a chilled cucumber in smetana and radish dish I had not seen since my mother served it to my father decades ago — not just shtetl food after all, as I had always imagined, but an evergreen recipe, which like the chilled beetroot soup, is an enduring Lithuanian summer staple.
Heading up Pilies, rather than down towards the main tourist hub of Cathedral Square, is rewarding for two reasons.
First, the broad boulevard to the town hall is a delight to stroll in its own right and leads to Stikliu, the most vibrant shopping street in the Glass Quarter.
Uzupis, Vilnius CREDIT Anthea Gerrie
Uzupis (Photo: Anthea Gerrie)
Second, heading left and downhill towards the river from the top of Pilies brings the visitor to Vilnius’s most eclectic and captivating neighbourhood: Užupis. This lively hub of street art, galleries and cafes styles itself as a “republic” and is dominated by the famous Angel statue overlooking the street life.
Heading up the hill and away from the crowds takes you to one of several Jewish cemeteries in the city; Jews, once comprising nearly half the population of Vilnius, were not confined to a ghetto in their heyday and lived in Užupis too.
There is a new wave of creative life developing around the railway station too, with a prolific street-art scene attracting masters of the genre from all over the world, and the Hales food market offering world cuisine as well as the produce of local farmers.
Save some time for a trip to Žverynas, a district where Lithuania’s famous picturesque wooden houses, not now found anywhere else in Vilnius, have been preserved. And Trakai Island Castle, an attractive 15th-century royal summer home is definitely worth a trip.
Even if you only have a long weekend to explore, enjoy detours through the walkable and enchanting old town with its cobbled streets, picturesque squares and arched alleys.
It would be no surprise to discover that your appetite — like mine — has been thoroughly whetted for a return visit.
Getting There
Airlines including Ryanair, Wizz, Lot and Air Baltic fly to Vilnius from the UK from £22 return.
Double rooms at the Narutis Hotel cost from £108 including breakfast.
For more information, visit govilnius.lt
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