LITUANUS
LITHUANIAN QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
 
Volume 27, No.1 - Summer 1981
Editor of this issue: Tomas Venclova, Thomas Remeikis
ISSN 0024-5089
Copyright © 1981 LITUANUS Foundation, Inc.
Lituanus

THE ARCHITECTURAL ENSEMBLE OF THE OLD UNIVERSITY

The halls of the old university, located in the old town of Vilnius, are assembled around twelve closely integrated courtyards. The architecture of the university buildings reflects a great variety of styles — buildings in Gothic, renaissance, baroque, rococo, and classic styles were added as the university expanded or its various parts were reconstructed following devastations of wars and fires during the four centuries of its existence. To the visitor the rather eclectic ensemble of the old university and the old town of Vilnius is a unique experience of centuries of East European development, when cultures and styles interacted and created a city with its own distinctive character. Contemporary images of this unique architectural monument, presented in these pages, well illustrate the cultural and scientific dynamism radiating from the halls of the academy.


Gateway to the Courtyard of Skarga


Aerial view of some of the university courtyards


The Church of St. John — the oldest structure on the campus, dating to the fifteenth century —
originally was built in Gothic style, but acquired an ornate baroque facade after reconstruction sometime in the 1740s.
The Soviet regime has converted the church into "a museum of progressive thought."


Towers of the university, reflecting a variety of styles


The Old Observatory towers, dating to the second half of the 18th century


The Central Building and Library


University Street


Doorway to the graphic arts room in the Scientific Library