Karoliniškės – 50mm advent calendar

Karoliniškės has a lot in common with other tower-block districts West and North of Vilnius, but for two features – the soaring TV tower, and the verdant Karoliniškių natural reserve. Since the features of Vilnius’ many concrete-tower zones will be covered in great detail elsewhere on this blog (see, for example, Justiniškės and Fabijoniškės), and the TV tower is the subject of a previous post, I’m going to focus on the natural reserve. The park forms an arch, effectively mirroring the greenery of Vingis park on the other side of the Neris river, forming a valley of forest among the urban sprawl of Vilnius. But whereas the Vingis park is flat, formed from a washed-up bend in the river, the Karoliniškių park is carved out of the sandy hills opposite, forming a dramatic landscape of ridges similar to that in Antakalnis or Verkių. In places, given its proximity to the city center, it offers some of the most spectacular views of Vilnius available, particularly around sunset with the last rays of the sun bathing the city in a warm glow. It starts, in the south, from a line drawn between Litexpo conference centre and the TV tower, up around three kilometres to Akropolis shopping centre (bisected along the way by Teodoro Narbuto gatvė, which connects Karoliniškės with central Vilnius). The park was a necessary feature, to stop any more of the loose sandy ground from giving way to the relentless pressure of the river, but now also serves to extend the green of Vingio park to the west and north, making it a great place for the residents of surrounding neighbourhoods to go enjoy nature. It also acts as a natural barrier between the concrete towers of the Western suburbs of Vilnius, and the affluent Žvėrynas with its embassies and luxury villas.

Every day between December 1 and 24, the 50mm Vilnius blog will try something new – an advent calendar featuring the districts of Vilnius in alphabetical order. There are 21 “elderships” in the city (Wikipedia has a handy list and rough map here), but I’ve added three parts of town that I think deserve a special mention for their unique character (Jeruzalė, Užupis, and Valakampiai) to make 24. Some photos will be drawn from the archives (as dedicated as I am, I’m not going to be able to run around a different part every day just to nurture a hobby), so don’t be surprised if there is a return of some summer or autumn scenes! Enjoy and happy advent!