The abandoned and centenary place of Vilnius, reminiscent of centuries, will change beyond recognition: it will revive ghost buildings

The report claims that for many centuries the area around present-day Lukiškės Square was just a large empty field until the 16th century. pab. Along the Neris, from the present White Bridge to the Iron Wolf Bridge, the Tatars began to develop. Soon, “Medinukai” with the nearby flower beds covered the plain. This place has long been owned by Vilnius fishermen, artisans and merchants, who controlled the port of Neris, where trade with Kaunas and Karaliaučiai flourished.

A century later, Dominican monks moved to Lukiškės and built the Church of the Holy Apostles Philip and James. The first secular hospital in Vilnius also appeared in the neighborhood.
The most important architectural changes occurred in the 19th century. In the early 19th century, when the sprawling city of Vilnius, the Russian tsarist administration began to draw up new plans for the development of the city. Even more regular straight streets and new brick buildings were built around the Soviet government, which changed the territory beyond recognition by expanding the Soviet neighborhood of Vilnius New Town.

According to the historian and specialist in the protection of the royal cultural heritage Indrė Baliulytė, in this Vilnius neighborhood since the 19th century. At the end of the 19th century there were intense changes: new multipurpose buildings were built, old ones were demolished, and existing ones were replaced as the city grew.

2003 after the closure of St. Jacob’s Hospital, this area died and for more than a decade was like a ghost in the very center of Vilnius. In 2019, after the international architecture competition, there was an opportunity for this territory to be reborn and open new spaces for citizens.

Let’s scatter the pages of history in detail and remember how this area has changed over the past centuries and what signs of different eras can be seen to this day.

Dominican monks settled in the neighborhood of Tartar

“17th century. The plans of the suburbs of Lukiškės, drawn quite professionally in the middle of the 19th century, show that around the current territory of Lukiškės square, people lived only in its northern part, along the Neris river behind the church and in the so-called Totorių Lukiškės. Historical sources record that the territory of the single-tower church was fenced off with a wooden fence at that time, and the Tatar houses continued along the Neris River, ”says historian I. Baliulytė.

According to her, this suburb was often devastated by fires, plagues and other disasters, which increasingly delayed the integration of Lukiškės into the structure of the city.

Despite the large Tatar community that professed Islam, in 1642. In Lukiškės a wooden church with a single tower was erected. After the Cossacks occupied Vilnius, it was burned down and rebuilt together with the monastery 9 years later, but then burned down again. 17th century pab. The construction of a new brick church and monastery began. The construction of the church was completed in 1727 and the construction of the monastery in 1759.

According to I. Baliulytė, who analyzed historical sources, the newly built brick Church of the Holy Apostles Philip and James (still standing) arose between the two main roads and intersections in a southeastern direction and was opposite the old city of Vilnius. No houses were built in front of the church, an open space was left in front of the main facade, a network of streets had not yet formed in front of it, only spontaneous roads connecting Lukiškės with the city.

Unfortunately, the developers of Soviet Vilnius ignored the idea of ​​architects hired by Dominican monks, and today the facade of the Church of the Holy Apostles Philip and James bounces off the Soviet masonry house on present-day February 16 Street.

For many years, the whole church and monastery acted as a vital attraction: a school was located in the two-story monastery, but the monks were not limited to church services.

“The monks built additional outbuildings along the Neris River and behind the church for various activities. They had a ferry to take them across the river, charging a fee for this service. Knowing that there was only one bridge over the Neris at that time, Žaliasis, the ferry was very necessary, because on the other side of the river there were brick and lime services for the construction of the city ”, shares I. Baliulytė historical material.

Vilnius’ first secular hospital and its chaotic buildings

1799 The first secular hospital in Vilnius, named after the apostles Philip and James, was established at the site of a beggar beggar. In the name of Jacob.
According to historian I. Baliulytė, along with the hospital, new wooden buildings appeared in the neighborhood, which mainly served as St. Jacob’s Hospital Barracks.

1834 the plan shows that St. On the territory of Jacob’s Hospital there was a pharmacy, a kitchen, an ice cream parlor, a garden and a representative courtyard. Barracks, several wooden buildings served as laundry, guardhouses, places for economic activities.

“At that time, the part of the territory of the church and the monastery, which was closer to the river, was used only for economic access, the territory bordered the bank of the Neris. There was no need for sick citizens to use the hospital and its territory, and when the Church of the Holy Apostles Philip and James became a parish, it operated independently. The hospital and the church functioned as a monastery as completely separate and unrelated economic entities, ”says the historian.

19th century at the beginning of St. Jacob’s hospital was given to merciful sisters who had a good reputation for keeping order. 1838 The plans to relocate the mentally ill of the Bonifrat Monastery began, for which a new building with a capacity for 120 beds was designed.

According to historian I. Baliulytė, St. Jacob’s Hospital interior plans have been changed several times and the original structures of the planned building have remained relatively small.

During World War I, when Vilnius was occupied by Nazi Germany, part of St. Jacob’s Hospital facilities were used for a prisoner of war camp. In the interwar period, the Vilnius St. Department of Neurology, Clinic, University of Bath.

1928 S t. Jacob’s Hospital had 250-300 beds and was the largest in Vilnius. It had departments of surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, gynecology, otorhinolaryngology.

1944 the hospital buildings were severely demolished and closed together with the church after WWII. The church housed a fruit and vegetable store, and later an opera and ballet theater.
The hospital continued to function. After the restoration of Lithuanian independence, the hospital was renamed St. Jacob’s name and operated here until 2003. The abandoned hospital buildings are still covered with windows, one of the Soviet-built hospital buildings was demolished and a parking lot operated in its place for a long time.

The tsar’s plans to rebuild the city were extended by the Soviets.

The historian says that in the 18th century. and the 19th century. At the beginning of the 19th century, the development plans of the city of Vilnius were prepared by the Russian tsarist administration, and after the construction of wooden houses was banned, brick buildings began to be erected instead of the “wooden houses That were collapsing. Soon a plan for regular construction was drawn up and straight and orderly streets were planned in Naujamiestis.

The integration of this former Vilnius suburb into the city’s fabric began with the construction of Gediminas Avenue in the 19th century. In the second half of the 19th century, the New Town began to form and brick buildings began to sprout here one after another.

“The Soviet administration did not look to aesthetics, but to simplicity. At that time, the city planners who designed the Neris embankment planned continuous construction here,” said historian I. Baliulytė.

XX a. A. Goštauto Street was built in the middle of the XIX century, which eliminated the connection between the Church of the Holy Apostles Philip and Jacob and the Dominican Monastery with the slope of Neris, the JT Vaižganto street was extended to center.

“With the construction of Goštauto Street and the construction of new brick buildings, the main view of the Church of the Holy Apostles Philip and James from the front was finally built. For centuries, this has been the most important vantage point of this Baroque complex: the main view of the church, which opens up a Baroque façade ornamented with monumental wall paintings, rather than from the back: the current White Bridge. Soviet city planners basically covered the facade of the church, which had been open for many years, and built a space in front of it, ”says historian I. Baliulytė.

According to her, for more than 300 years the changes in the history of the hospital were mainly and several buildings sprang up and constantly changed from the rear of the Church of the Holy Apostles Philip and Jacob, along the current street T. Vaižganto, because this part of the plot was always considered behind the scenes. back. “The main facade of the church was oriented towards the city and the river, built on the main roads that come from the city center, from which the current streets February 16 and Lukiškių were built.

Ghost buildings will be reborn for a new life

2003 after the closure of St. Jacob’s Hospital, the area remained abandoned for many years, the huge hospital building built by the Soviets in the west was later demolished to select and implement a harmonious and cohesive concept for the adaptation of the area. Unable to find a solution on how to develop this area, this space later served as a parking lot for many years.

This spring, the public was presented with an architectural vision that won an international architectural competition, according to which the four former St. Jacob’s Hospital buildings will be rebuilt without increasing their height, the interior garden arranged and opened to the townspeople, and a two-building hotel building will be built next door. The investment in this project is expected to reach 45 million. euros.

Gilma Teodora Gylytė, partner of DO Architects, says that historians, specialists in cultural heritage, Dominican monks are constantly consulted during the preparation of the complex project of February 16, the requirements for the protection of cultural heritage and the specially prepared individual protection regulations for this area they are carefully observed.

“In creating the architectural vision of the complex, we have been guided from the beginning by the fundamental principle: the church plays the first violin in the neighborhood, therefore, everything that is built next must play the second. The new buildings do not exceed the altitude of the monastery ridge, the sloping roofs are adapted to the scale of the neighborhood and its moderate character, the connecting parts between the old hospital buildings are designed as a single-storey building, highlighting the accessibility and new perspectives on St. the towers of the Church of the Apostles Philip and Jacob ”, says GT Gylytė, author of the architectural idea.

According to her, the architectural solutions aim to highlight the historical values ​​and multi-layered nature of the complex, open up the territory and create opportunities to view the church from different angles. In the project, the buildings are connected on the principle of “old-new-old-new” to tell the history of the neighborhood in architectural language.

“Looking closely at the development of the neighborhood, we saw that the hospital, which had been operating alongside the church and the monastery for over 200 years, was in the eastern part of the neighborhood from the beginning, oriented perpendicular to the river, along the current T.Vaižganto street. Continuing with the spatial code of the neighborhood, we designed new hotel buildings in the same direction, architecturally dividing the buildings, leaving visibility to the rear apse of the church ”, says the architect.

The location of the old cemetery will be significant.

According to historical sources, there were two cemeteries under the supervision of the members of the Lukiškės Convention: near the Church of the Holy Apostles Philip and Jacob, in its cemetery and parish, which officially existed until 1865. According to historian I. Baliulytė, in the long run, the cemetery with the cemetery was fenced with a brick fence, and in the parish, not in the fenced cemetery, the inhabitants who died were buried in the monastery hospital.

2017 S t. Archaeological excavations were carried out on the site of the Jacob Hospital building complex. The findings found during the investigation (65 burials) were transferred to a specialized repository – the Department of Anatomy, Histology and Anthropology of the Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine for further research. The investigation was not carried out in the part of the territory of the church complex.

The results of the archaeological investigation are sent to the Department of Cultural Heritage (CRD) and its subordinate Cultural Heritage Center. The CRD’s first real cultural heritage assessment board relied on the research results to refine the complex’s valuable properties. After evaluating all the relevant circumstances and the investigation results, the CRD evaluated and found a valuable feature: the location of the ancient tombs among the old hospital buildings.

“An area where there are no more human remains and graves is not considered a cemetery, and it is common practice to rebury human remains found in archaeological excavations in existing cemeteries after the necessary investigations have been conducted. During the implementation of development on the territory of the complex, special attention is paid to the preservation of valuable properties, ”said architect G. T. Gylytė.

Archaeological excavations and an individual site protection regulation clearly show the location of the old cemetery in the eastern part of the projected area, between the old hospital buildings.

According to the architect, this place will not be built, special attention will be paid to it: “New buildings are not being designed in this place, the entire territory of the cemetery will be especially significant, distinguished by cladding, lighting, small architectural elements. Other cemeteries of the cemetery are located on the monastery plot and will not be touched in any way by this project ”.

The resurgent Vilnius neighborhood, without closed doors

Speaking of the revived former St. Architect GT Gylytė draws attention to the concept of public spaces in the Jacob Hospital neighborhood, that the spaces of the Baroque church will remain protected and intact, and the Dominican monastery will have individual access with access from the street Lukiškių.

In order to order and open to the public the territory protected by the state, but long abandoned, a public pedestrian path has been designed through the central part of the complex, according to the architect.
“The cozy courtyard in the center of the old hospital complex will be opened to the public and an attractive new public space has been created in Vilnius. There will be a garden here, and on the built-in benches you can listen to the concerts of the church carillons. A rare historical complex opens its interior to the public, and our vision from the beginning was that there would be no closed doors here, ”says G. T. Gylytė.

A quarter of the total plot and the surrounding area will be planted with greenery and plants, creating a new quality environment for the townspeople.

According to the architect of the architectural project G. T. Gylytė, shops, bookstores and cafes will be able to be built on the first floor of the newly built hotel. A two-way bike path will be built along J. Tumo-Vaižganto Street, connecting the White Bridge with Lukiškės Square, and trees and shrubs will be planted. According to her, it will bring life and help attract people to the part of the city near Washington Square.

“We hope to inspire life in the section of the city between the White Bridge and Lukiškės Square, which is now very run down and uncomfortable. The corner of February 16 street is also sad, so our goal is to make this street come alive again with small business showcases and coffee tables, ”GT Gylytė shares the vision.