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Reconstruction works on the Rey Mindaugas Bridge pier on the right bank of the Neris should be halted for a time. During the demolition of the old slope, a masonry was found here; it was almost certainly around 1830. the foundations of a dated building, tsarist fortresses.
After further investigation, all information will be sent for evaluation to the Royal Heritage Assessment Council of the Department of Cultural Heritage (CRD) of the Ministry of Culture, and then, taking into account their recommendations, the specialists of the municipal plan Vilniaus Planas they will look for the most suitable solution in changing circumstances.
Several hundred years ago foundations were found near the King Mindaugas Bridge. This year, work continues on the 1st stage of the project to rebuild the Neris embankment, construction of bicycles and footpaths on the section from the Green Bridge to the limit of the Tuskulėnai manor house and the memorial complex for the victims of the regime of Soviet occupation, in Olimpiečių st., Žvejų st. and Žirmūnų st. During these works, archaeological excavations are carried out regularly at the largest earthmoving works sites. Digging the ground in Olimpiečių st. 1 and the masonry foundation was inaugurated. According to the archaeologist Ramūnas Šmigelskas, who carried out the research, it is likely that this is 1831. The foundations of one of the buildings of the Tsar’s fortress were started.
“The fort included the castle hill, the Lower Castle territory, and other places on the left side of the Neris. On the right bank of the Neris, it covered the area in front of the old Arsenal buildings and the Vilnius mouth to the old Jewish cemetery. Historical plans show at least three buildings on the Neris embankment, fragments of one of which have been discovered during archaeological excavations. The military fortress functioned until 1878. The discovered building is represented in almost all the plans of the city from 1831 to the 20th century. vine. Photographs of the building in question have even been preserved. Judging by them, the building was demolished after the war, ”commented R. Šmigelskas.
The foundation of the exposed building was laid with field stones and pink or yellow bricks measuring 21.5 x 11 x 4.5 cm. Archaeological excavations have not uncovered the foundations of the entire building. A 15.9 m long fragment of the foundation was recorded, continuing to the east. According to R. Šmigelskas, this is the P wall of the building, and its surviving fragments must be found both north and east of the existing excavation. In the near future, it is planned to explore the entire territory with georadar, to carry out the architectural investigation of the building, as required by the Archaeological Heritage Management Regulations.
Architect Lolita Vileikienė, director of the Neris Embankment reconstruction project, predicts that the DRC’s Royal Cultural Heritage Council will evaluate the archaeologists’ find as a valuable feature and therefore instruct its conservation. And this course of events seems attractive to him: the preserved and reinforced foundations of the tsarist building would fit perfectly as a retaining wall on the terrace designed in that place.
