Baltics - 17 June 2012 (1)

Into the Republic of Užupis

View of Vilnius from Hotel Room

Church of St Raphael the Archangel from Hotel Room

The alarm woke me up for the first time on the holiday as we could have a bit of a lie in.

Although a long walk to the old town, I couldn’t fault the view from our room when we pulled the curtains.  We could see the whole of the old town and beyond.  The skyline was dominated by church spires, rather than skyscrapers.  Had we climbed one of the church spires and looked back towards the hotel, the skyline would have been dominated by skyscrapers.

Bernardinų gatvė

St Anne's Church, Vilnius

At 09.00, there was a heavy thunderstorm, but it had stopped by the time we left the hotel.  We kept our fingers crossed that the rain was over for the day.

Our city guide for Vilnius was Geirdre.  She began her talk by saying that the name “Lithuania” is derived from the Lithuanian for rain.  Don’t know if that is true, but we crossed our fingers even tighter.

Befry of St. Michael's Church, Vilnius

Church of St Francis from Assisi (Bernardine)

Geirdre led us into town by almost the same route that May and I had taken the afternoon before.  After we crossed the Green Bridge, she told us that the statues of workers at the end were the only soviet era statues still in place.

Church Heritage Museum, St. Michael’s Church

Cathedral of the Dormition of the Theotokos

Once past the cathedral, we veered off to the left down a narrow street.  This was Bernardinų gatvę.  Geidre told us how the locals resisted some of the many people to conquer the country, by making the road as narrow as possible, to prevent large carriages or military convoys from using it.

River Vilnia

Mermaid beside River Vilnia

We came out on several churches – St Anne’s, St Michael’s and St Francis from Assisi (Bernardine).  We walked past them, admiring the architecture and then saw the Orthodox Cathedral of the Dormition of the Theotokos.  Geirdre didn’t go into any of the churches and led us onto another padlock bridge, which crossed the River Vilnia.  This river is much smaller that the River Neris and much more picturesque, with vegetation on both its banks.

Mural, Republic of Užupis

Padlock Bridge on River Vilnia

Across the River Vilnia lies the Independent Republic of Užupis.  The state was founded by artists and we made our way through a dilapidated area, where there were lots of murals.  Ann had a go on a swing there while Geidre was talking to us.

Angel of Užupis, Republic of Užupis

Constitution, Republic of Užupis

When we emerged onto a street, Geirdre pointed out three plaques on a wall, which set out the constitution of the republic in three languages.  We clustered round the English plaque and read the various points of the constitution.  I particularly liked: “Everyone has the right to love and take care of the cat” and “A cat is not obliged to love its owner but must help in time of need”.  There were some rights for dogs too – “A dog has the right to be a dog” and “Everyone has the right to look after the dog until one of them dies”.  And some were for those who are not perfect: “Everyone has the right to make mistakes”, “Everyone has the right to be undistinguished and unknown” and “Everyone has the right to appreciate their unimportance”.  Some of the rights made a lot of sense: “No one has the right to violence”, “No one has the right to make another person guilty”, “Everyone has the right to be individual”.

Before leaving Užupis, we had a much needed drink in a café by the river, near to the padlock bridge.  The hot chocolate wasn’t as good as it was described in the menu and very overpriced – I think I got the wrong drink – so I wasn’t that impressed.