Major discoveries expected in Kaunas Old Town: street repairs may take longer than planned

They accuse the municipality of ruining the business

Since July 12, life in Kaunas Old Town has fundamentally changed. Vilnius Street, which was previously bustling until late and famous for its bars and pubs, has been turned into a construction site. After the quarantine, the street, which had begun to recover, was surrounded by fences and the side accesses were closed.

The need for a capital renovation of Vilniaus Street, which is in a deplorable state, to replace its deformed pavement and sidewalks, has long been talked about. It was hoped that work could begin in the spring, when the life of the entire country would be quarantined. However, these hopes were not destined to be realized: the Kaunas municipality could not find a contractor for a long time, and finally the public procurement tender began to stall due to legal disputes.

The contract for the redevelopment of Vilniaus Street between the municipality of Kaunas and the closed corporation Autokausta, which won the works contract, was only signed on June 15 this year. Its value is 4 million. 777 thousand euros. The estimated duration of the job is 12 months.

The managers of the bars and restaurants operating on Vilniaus Street were notified of the upcoming repairs less than two weeks before the start of the works, on July 1. This has sparked understandable outrage among business leaders who have yet to recover from the pandemic. The businessmen said they did not understand why they were informed so late, mentioned that the only logical way out was to lay off employees and stop activities, and accused the municipality of ruining the business.

Archaeological discoveries may delay completion of works

The Kaunas Municipality announces that after the completion of the Vilnius Street repair work, the main street of the Old Town will change substantially. The cobblestones, which cause a lot of discomfort to pedestrians, will be polished, the pavement will be changed, new chandeliers, benches and other elements of small architecture will appear. All of these works are scheduled to be completed next summer.

The largest and most complex works are not the repair of the pavement or sidewalks, but the replacement of underground pipes, even at the 4-meter level. Communications installed during the Soviet era have not been revised until now, and many businessmen and residents of the old town suffer from a malfunction of the sewage system.

City officials say the pipelines are scheduled to be replaced before Christmas. Then people will be able to walk down the street, maybe bars will open. It is difficult to say if this will happen, because the earthworks in the historic and valuable old town of Kaunas will be carried out under the supervision of archaeologists.

Once valuable finds are discovered, which is very likely during excavations in the old town, street repairs will have to stop and scientists will carry out detailed investigations.

The probability of discoveries is quite high, because by changing the pipes, not only the part of Vilniaus Street already destroyed during the Soviet era will be excavated, but also its access that has not been touched until now.

The main street of old Kaunas

“Archaeologists must participate in the work at this site every day. If suspicious places appeared somewhere, or if hitherto intact layers were exposed, I think archaeologists should say the decisive word, recording the finds, ”said Jonas Vaičenonis, professor and historian at Vytautas Magnus University (Vytautas Magnus University) to Delfi. portal.

The researcher highlighted that the artery of the old town that is currently being repaired was one of the central streets of the city.

“On its axis was the main road to Vilnius, to the following cities,” said Vytautas University professor Magnus J. Vaičenonis.

According to the historian, the path of the current historical presidency took a turn and extended towards the city gate at present-day J. Gruodžio Street. It continued along the axis of the present Laisvės Alley towards the A. Mickevičius Valley.

“It is the main artery of the city. I think that by working in this area, we can look forward to very interesting historical discoveries, ”said Vytautas University professor and historian Magnus J. Vaičenonis.

Expect to discover valuable finds

Simonas Sprindys, head of the small community “Past Research Institute,” which performs archaeological maintenance during the repair, said valuable finds are expected to be found during excavations at places that were untouched during the Soviet era.

“Most of our work will be carried out on Soviet-era roof engineering networks. Unless valuable layers were destroyed during the excavation of the trenches and the finds were not removed, they remained in the mixed soil. such finds in these places ”, said the archaeologist.

According to the specialist, it is planned to build engineering networks in new, hitherto immobile places, so valuable findings can be found here.

“We really should get to the 17th-18th centuries, hopefully the 16th century and maybe even the 15th. We will carry out the research on a natural soil formed by glaciers, where there are no traces of human activity.

Unfortunately, XIV – XVI am. The layers of the periods of the period are usually destroyed in the 17th and 18th centuries. during construction works, 19th – 20th centuries. construction and construction of engineering networks.

As Vilniaus Street is one of the oldest streets in Kaunas, and its route has not changed much, hopefully in later times the construction works did not fly too far into the street itself and the layers from earlier periods would remain intact.

Here, of course, the “help” was given to us by the Soviets, laying engineering nets at a depth of 3-4 meters through the very center of the street. Clearly, much has been ruined. But let’s hope that on the outskirts of the street, in the places where new engineering networks will be built, we will find something sooner, ”said archaeologist S. Sprindys.

Archaeological finds may require design changes.

S. Sprindys, the director of the Past Research Institute that oversees the street repairs, could not yet say how long work would stop if something valuable was found.

“You have to understand one thing, if we find something, it is not necessary to do archaeological research, the street reconstruction project can be changed to save time: the pipes are raised higher, the route is changed to a furrow where everything was destroyed in Soviet times.

Regarding the “darkest scenario” for Kaunas residents, if a valuable layer was found at the locations of all new routes and the project could not be changed, there are very few new sections compared to the scope of rebuilding the entire the street. These are basically our jobs, if a detailed archaeological investigation is needed, which does not interfere with the installation of the main networks, which will take more time ”, said S. Sprindys to the Delfi portal.

The archaeologist mentioned that he had agreed with the municipality and the Autokausta street reconstruction company that the work would be in sections. After reviewing a section, it will be handed over to the contractors and you will proceed to the next section.

“We will do our best to keep up with the contractors. It is a very important moment that everyone wants to get the job done so quickly, because next year Kaunas will become the European Capital of Culture.

What kind of Kaunas would be the European Capital of Culture if bulldozers were driven down the main and oldest street in Vilnius without the supervision of archaeologists? If we are the European Capital of Culture, let’s show how cultural we are, we may have some special scientific discoveries, ”archaeologist S. Sprindys told the Delfi portal.

The “secret” dungeons of the old town and the tunnel below Nerimi

Kaunas Old Town is famous not only for its historical heritage, but also for various legends. The imagination of Kaunas residents is still shaken by stories about mysterious tunnels that are spread from generation to generation, through which even the lower Šančiai district can be reached from the old town. The main parts of the old part of the city (the town hall, the Kaunas cathedral, the nearby churches) are connected by secret tunnels.

Probably the most famous legend tells of a secret tunnel, hitherto unknown, that leads from Kaunas Castle to the other side of the Neris. It is said that there was a secret path under the water, by which the defenders of the castle could get out of the mantle.

However, the probability that secret tunnels will be discovered is equal to zero during the renovation of Vilniaus Street. There are simply no underground roads as it would be very expensive and pointless to build them.

Vytautas Magnus University historian Professor J. Vaičenonis notes that to this day there is no reason to believe in the reality of these stories.

“There are myths, some of which were formed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when Kaunas Castle was abandoned. In their cellars there is an arched entrance to the basement of the bastion, and for the people who enter, whose direction seemed to lead under the River Neris, they evoked certain associations. They passed from mouth to mouth, becoming legends.

These legends, about which I have also written, were refuted by Eduard Volter (Lithuanian philologist, ethnologist, archaeologist – ed.), Who, during the interwar period, as director of the Kaunas City Museum, continued the investigation of the Castle from Kaunas, during which the passage to the bastion was discovered. Stories of people searching for possible exits were also collected, excavated around Kaunas City Hall. In the end, it was said that all this is a legend and that there are no tunnels, “said Professor J. Vaičenonis.

The scientist pointed out that certain associations with mythical secret dungeons can be caused by sewage collectors that were built between the wars.

“When building a new house, St. Archaeological excavations were carried out on Gertrūdos Street, during which brick collectors were found. They really exist, they are in different parts of the city and their purpose is economic, ”said Vytautas University professor and historian Magnus J. Vaičenonis.