The massive buttresses and towering walls of this, one of the most impressive churches in Vilnius, are capable of providing defence as well as worship. After successive periods of extension and improvement in the 17th and 19th centuries, it came to a prosaic end when the Soviets converted it into a warehouse. The Bernadine community regained their building after independence, restoring it to its former Flamboyant Gothic and Brick Gothic glory, and adding trails for sightseers wishing to explore the complex.
Bernadine Church & Monastery
Vilnius
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania
0.28 MILES
If you only see one museum in Vilnius, make it this one. On a site that has been settled since the 4th century AD stands the latest in a procession of…
0.33 MILES
Stately Vilnius Cathedral, divorced from its freestanding belfry, is a national symbol and the city's most instantly recognisable building. Known in full…
0.27 MILES
Founded in 1579 during the Catholic Counter Reformation, Vilnius University was run by Jesuits for two centuries. During the 19th century it became one of…
1 MILES
This former headquarters of the KGB (and before them the Gestapo, Polish occupiers and Tsarist judiciary) houses a museum dedicated to thousands of…
0.34 MILES
Climb the creaky stairs into the free-standing belfry of Vilnius Cathedral, once part of the city's 13th-century defences. Towering 57m high, it's one of…
-
14.62 MILES
Stepping across the wooden walkway to Trakai's Gothic castle is like tripping into a fairy tale. The castle is estimated to date from around 1400, when…
-
10.38 MILES
Some 21km north of Vilnius, off the Utena road, is Europos Parkas. Leading contemporary sculptors, including Sol LeWitt and Dennis Oppenheim, show over…
-
0.33 MILES
Katedros aikštė buzzes with local life. In the 19th century markets and fairs were held here and a moat ran around what is now the square’s perimeter so…
Nearby Vilnius attractions
0.04 MILES
Flamboyant and Gothic St Anne's Church, a vision of undulating lines and red-brick arches, was built in 1500 on the site of a wooden church that burned to…
2. St Michael the Archangel Church
0.09 MILES
This grand early-17th-century chuch, built by the Sapiega family, now houses a wonderful museum of sacral art. The building itself, with its single Gothic…
3. Mickiewicz Memorial Apartment & Museum
0.09 MILES
‘Lithuania, my fatherland…’ is from Poland’s romantic masterpiece Pan Tadeusz. Its Polish author Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855) – muse to Polish nationalists…
0.12 MILES
Nestled in a crook of the Vilnia River, between Gediminas Hill and the Bernadine Church, these delightful gardens are perhaps Vilnius' prime spot to…
0.13 MILES
Dedicated to Baltic gold and the beautiful things it can be crafted into, this enthusiastic little museum occupies a 17th-century baroque house. Upstairs…
0.14 MILES
This excellent museum is a fun romp through the ages for kids and adults alike. Acquaint yourself with 12th-century games and peruse the extensive…
0.15 MILES
An Orthodox church has stood here since Lithuania's late pagan days of the 14th century. Over the years it was burned, abandoned, rebuilt, transferred to…
0.16 MILES
One of two branches of the creative powerhouse of the Užupis Republic, the Galera shows exciting temporary exhibitions by local talent and invites artists…