Žvėrynas – 50mm advent calendar

Žvėrynas is one of the few neighbourhoods in Vilnius, alongside the historic city centre, that gets its own chapter in the guidebooks. And for good reason. The “menagerie”, as the literal translation goes, is one of the oldest districts in town, and one with plenty of character, with grandiose churches (like the Orthodox church of the virgin Mary, above), meticulously carved wooden houses and palaces all packed into around 2.6 square kilometres. It is a quarter of diplomats and embassies, as well as some exotic sights like the now-abandoned Soviet guesthouse, where Mikhail Gorbachev, Richard Nixon and Denmark’s queen Margrethe II stayed in opulent splendor during visits to the city. A good way to sample this quirky district is to cross over the Neris at the beautiful stone-built Žvėryno bridge, which extends from the main city-centre boulevard, Gedimino Prospektas, stroll around the tightly-packed peninsula, and then continue into Vingio Parkas across Vingio parko suspension bridge.

 

That church-inspired post is the last in this series of neighbourhoods of Vilnius. Merry Christmas!

 

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!