A new and free route has been introduced

St. Jurgis, A. Mickevičius, Stalin, Lenin, Gedimin. There is hardly any other street in the capital that has had so many names and such a colorful history. To return to this artery of the city and take a closer look at the buildings erected here, the new route of “Invisible Vilnius” “Besides Gediminos Prospekt” will help. It is also adapted to explorers of the capital with individual needs.

“Certain places in Vilnius may have the most interesting history, but if they are inaccessible, unsuitable for visiting, that history cannot be shared. Gediminas Avenue is very grateful in this regard – it is probably the most visited street in the capital, where the objects located are easy to reach and see for everyone, and it is convenient to get to them. For example, the crossings on the avenue are easy for people with wheelchairs to pass, the curbs here are adapted for safe landing on the roadway,” – Kristina Mackevičienė, chief specialist of the Department of Foreign Relations and Tourism of the Vilnius Municipality, draws attention to the friendliness of the route for various audiences.

“This route is another plus for Vilnius, because when creating it attention was paid to people with individual needs. After all, they are not spoiled with opportunities to get to know the city, because accessibility for everyone is not always considered when creating routes. After all, we all like to travel, get to know, and fantasize about how Vilnius looked like in the olden days,” says Ginta Žemaitaitytė, the project coordinator of the Union of Lithuanian People with Disabilities, who consulted the creators of the route.

For example, she advises those traveling with the route “Besides Gediminas Prospekt” not to pass by the current shoe store – a place that smelled of chocolate a hundred years ago – and to find the teddy bears that have survived to witness the sweet history of the building, and other places that evoke the city’s past.

There are as many as 22 stops on the 2.3 km long circular route, telling the story of when and how the development of Vilnius began, how the officials stopped it, why it was so difficult to modernize the city, what gave rise to the name of the avenue, who settled in the houses and palaces under construction, why this street has so many names?

“The history of each street is the history of the city. When selecting the buildings for the route, I looked for what interesting things happened in them, what modern things came to Vilnius through the buildings, what famous people are connected with them”, reveals the guide Eglė Likaitė, who compiled the route.

According to her, the route can primarily interest Vilnius residents who already have an understanding of the street of their childhood and youth, and know its history. Guests of the city may also be intrigued by such details hidden in Gediminas Avenue as a sculpture made of 75 thousand. molten 50-cent coins; a place where a hotel once operated with rooms without hot water; the building where the winter garden was installed and the representatives of the oldest profession worked; former high school for noble girls; the square where circus performances took place; the oldest building on the avenue; the church where Žygimantas Augustas and Barbora Radvilaitė were possibly married; or the place where Žemaitė unexpectedly meets Frida Kahlo.

A free route for an independent walk can be found here: https://neakivajdinisvilnius.lt/studijos/abipus-gedimino-prospekto/