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The Vilnius Cathedral (Lithuanian: Vilniaus katedra), formally the Archcathedral Basilica of St. Stanislaus and St. Ladislaus (Lithuanian: Vilniaus Šv. Stanislovo ir Šv. Vladislovo arkikatedra bazilika), is the Roman Catholic cathedral of the Archdiocese of Vilnius and a minor basilica in Vilnius, Lithuania. Since the 14th century it serves as the seat of the Bishops and Metropolitan Archbishops of Vilnius.
Located on the Cathedral Square in the historic centre of the city, it is one of the Lithuania's most important religious and architectural monuments. Its present Neoclassical appearance largely results from the reconstruction designed by Laurynas Gucevičius in the late eighteenth century. Nevertheless, the Chapel of Saint Casimir retained its Baroque appearance designed by Costante Tencalla between 1623–1636 and the new sacristy was later built by replicating it.
Historically, the Archcathedral served as the site of the Gediminids inaugurations as the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, during which Cap of Gediminas was placed on the ruler's head. In modern Lithuania, a Mass at the cathedral forms part of the ceremonies following the inauguration of the President of Lithuania.
The church services are held throughout the week in the Archcathedral mainly in Lithuanian language and also once a week in Latin language. Two particularly venerated images, known for graces, namely the Three-Handed Saint Casimir and Sapieha Madonna, as well as sarcophagus with the remains of Saint Casimir are located in the Archcathedral. Moreover, the monarchs of Lithuania and Poland, as well as prominent Lithuanian statesman and clergy were buried in the Archcathedral's crypts. Besides religious activities, the Archcathedral is also a venue of regular social and cultural activities.
The origins of Christian and pre-Christian structures on the site are disputed. A long historiographical tradition, dating back to the 15th-century historian Jan Długosz, associated an earlier church beneath the present cathedral with King Mindaugas and suggested that it was subsequently adapted for pagan worship.
More recent archaeological and historical studies have questioned this interpretation, with some scholars dating the earliest masonry beneath the cathedral to the early fourteenth century and rejecting its identification as Mindaugas's cathedral. The first securely documented cathedral was founded on the initiative of Jogaila following the Christianization of Lithuania in 1387 and was consecrated in 1388.
After the cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1419, Vytautas had a substantially larger Gothic hall church built in its place. The Gothic core of Vytautas's cathedral, including much of its walls and pillars, survives within the present building. The third cathedral had three naves and four circular towers at its corners, and was similar to cathedral in Frombork. In 1522, the cathedral was renovated, and a bell tower was built on top of the Lower Castle defensive tower. Following a major fire in 1530, the cathedral was reconstructed from 1534 under the direction of Italian architects Bernardinus de Gianotis and Giovanni Cini. Further chapels and crypts were added, and by the completion of the works in the mid-sixteenth century the cathedral had acquired Renaissance architectural features.
The elevations of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania took place in the cathedral. Inside its crypts and catacombs are buried many famous people from Lithuanian and Polish history including Vytautas (1430), his wife Anna (1418), his brother Sigismund (1440), his cousin Švitrigaila (1452), Saint Casimir (1484), Alexander Jagiellon (1506), and two wives of Sigismund II Augustus: Elisabeth of Austria (1545) and Barbara Radziwiłł (1551). The heart of Władysław IV Vasa was buried there upon his death, although the rest of his body is buried at the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków.
In 1529 Sigismund II Augustus was elevated as Grand Duke of Lithuania in the cathedral, it was the last such ceremony. On 29 May 1580, during a ceremony in Vilnius Cathedral, Merkelis Giedraitis, Bishop of Samogitia, presented Stephen Báthory with a ceremonial sword and a pearl-encrusted hat sent and blessed by Pope Gregory XIII. The ceremony was regarded by some contemporaries and has been interpreted by historians as a symbolic substitute for the separate inauguration of a Grand Duke of Lithuania that had ceased after the Union of Lublin.
After yet another fire in 1610, the cathedral was rebuilt again until 1632, according to a project of the German architect Wilhelm Pohl, and the two front towers were added. The cathedral was damaged again in 1655 when Vilnius fell to Russian troops in the Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667. It was renovated since 1666 according to a project of the Austrian architect J. V. Salvador and redecorated several more times.
Between 1623 and 1636, at the initiative of Sigismund III Vasa and later completed by his son Wladyslaw IV Vasa, the Baroque style Chapel of Saint Casimir by royal architect Costante Tencalla was built of Swedish sandstone. Its interior was reconstructed in 1691–1692 and decorated with frescoes by Michelangelo Palloni, the altar and stuccowork by Pietro Perti. This chapel contains sculpted statues of the Jagiellon Polish Kings and Lithuanian Grand Dukes, and an epitaph with Wladyslaw IV Vasa's heart. More than anything in the Cathedral this chapel symbolizes the glory of Polish-Lithuanian union and common history.
In 1769 the southern tower, built during the reconstruction of 1666 collapsed, destroying the vaults of the neighbouring chapel and killing 6 people. After the damage, Bishop of Vilnius Ignacy Jakub Massalski ordered the reconstruction of the cathedral. Reconstruction in the Neoclassical style began in the early 1780s under Laurynas Gucevičius and was completed in 1801 by Michał Szulc. Stanisław August Poniatowski awarded Gucevičius the Medal Merentibus for designing the Neoclassical style Vilnius Cathedral. The church acquired a strict quadrangular shape common to local public buildings. The main facade was adorned with sculptures of the Four Evangelists by Italian sculptor Tommaso Righi. Some scholars point to the architectural resemblance of the cathedral to the works of Andrea Palladio or see the influence of Gucevičius's tutor Claude Nicolas Ledoux. The influence of Palladian architecture is evident in side facades of the building. The lack of 'purity' of the Classical architecture, due to incorporation of Baroque style sculptures and other elements, was later criticized by academical architects, notably Karol Podczaszyński.
Between 1786 and 1792 three sculptures by Karol Jelski were placed on roof of the Cathedral - Saint Casimir on the south side, Saint Stanislaus on the north, and Saint Helena in the centre. These sculptures were removed in 1950 and restored (sculptor Stanislovas Kuzma) in 1997.
During the Soviet occupation, the cathedral was converted into a warehouse. Masses were celebrated again starting in 1988, although the cathedral was still officially called The Gallery of Images at that time. In 1989, its status as a cathedral was restored. In January that year, the remains of Albertas Goštautas were discovered in the cathedral wall. On 4 September, 1993, the Archcathedral was visited by the first incumbent Pope John Paul II who met there with the Lithuanian priests, seminarians, monks, and delivered a speech in Lithuanian language.
In 2002 work officially began to rebuild the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania behind the cathedral. The newly erected palace building considerably altered the context of the cathedral.
The cathedral and the belfry were renovated and the façades repainted during the 2006–2008 renovation. It was the first renovation since the restoration of Lithuania's independence in 1990.
In 2018, the cathedral's tympanum and several of its plinths were repaired. In 2022, the roof was renovated after part of it was blown off by strong winds. In 2023, the roof lantern above St Casimir's Chapel and the sacristy were repaired.
The Neoclassical architectural style cathedral has an elongated rectangular shape with projecting corner chapels. The Chapel of Saint Casimir and the sacristy feature ornate domes topped with crosses on gilded spheres. The cathedral roof was originally covered with thick copper sheeting, but during the World War I the Germans in 1917 stripped it off and replaced it with metal sheeting. Nevertheless, the cathedral's roof was later re-covered with zinc sheeting.
The main façade is dominated by a portico of six Doric columns supporting a triangular pediment. Its tympanum contains Tommaso Righi’s high relief Noah’s Sacrifice, depicting Noah and his family offering a sacrifice after the Flood. The figures are arranged around a smoking altar, with animals occupying the spaces between them and the corners of the composition. Three statues stand above the pediment: Saint Helena in the centre, holding a cross and the Holy Nails, Saint Stanislaus to the north, and Saint Casimir to the south. Casimir is depicted with a grand ducal cap at his feet, symbolising his renunciation of earthly power. The present statues were made by Stanislovas Kuzma in 1997 to replace the originals, which were destroyed by the Soviet authorities in 1950.
Six statues by Righi occupy niches in the main façade. Abraham, holding a knife, and Moses, carrying the Tablets of the Law, flank the four Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, accompanied by their respective symbols of an angel, a lion, an ox and an eagle. Their Baroque forms contrast with the restrained architecture of the portico. Five relief panels above the niches depict episodes from the Acts of the Apostles: the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the healing of a lame man, Saint Peter preaching (the biggest central panel, above the main entrance), Saint Paul healing a sick man, and the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira.
The north and south façades have similar, symmetrical compositions. Each features a colonnade of six Doric columns linking the projecting chapels. Raised on pedestals, these columns are smaller and more slender than those of the main portico. Behind them, pilasters alternate with tall rectangular windows and niches containing statues. The southern niches contain seven figures associated with the Jagiellonian dynasty, including Saint Casimir, although the individual identities of the other figures remain uncertain. Their attributes include armour, crowns and sceptres. The northern niches contain smaller figures of apostles and saints associated with the Society of Jesus, placed on taller pedestals. Both groups are characterised by animated poses and flowing drapery. The southern sculptures date to 1754 and the northern group to 1754–1768. They originally adorned the main and side altars of the Church of Saint Casimir and were transferred to the cathedral in 1832, following the church’s closure after the November Uprising.
The exterior of the Chapel of Saint Casimir bears a Baroque foundation plaque, attributed to Costante Tencalla and dated 1636. Its marble inscription panel is enclosed by an elaborate sandstone frame decorated with heraldic cartouches, garlands, wings, cornices, volutes and a mascaron. The Latin inscription commemorates the patronage of Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland and Sweden and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and the completion of the chapel’s decoration under his son, Władysław IV Vasa, in 1636. Above the plaque is a window with a moulded surround decorated with volutes and a garland. Its design, like that of the chapel as a whole, reflects the influence of Carlo Maderno.
The freestanding bell tower in front of the cathedral incorporates a former defensive tower of the Lower Castle. It reaches a height of 57 metres, including the cross. Its square underground base dates to the thirteenth century and is among the oldest surviving masonry structures in Lithuania. Above ground, a circular lower section supports three octagonal stages, capped by a domed roof with a pyramidal spire. The clock has hour hands only.
The tower’s historic bells include one cast by Joannes Delamars in 1673, decorated with figurative scenes and ornamental bands and used to strike the hours. Other bells were cast by Andrew Dorling, Karol Gotlyb Sparr, Gustav Miorka and Philip Jacob Ginter. Six additional bells were donated by Cardinal Joachim Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne. The largest, named Joachim, weighs 2,600 kilograms.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Vilnius Cathedral”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.