Vilnius - Šv. Stanislovo ir Šv. Vladislovo arkikatedra

Vilnius is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of about 600.000. Before WWII, Vilnius was one of the largest Jewish centers in Europe which led to the nickname "the Jerusalem of Lithuania".

The city was first mentioned in written sources as Vilna in 1323 as the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, built a wooden castle on a hill in the city. The city became more widely known after he wrote a circular letter of invitation to Germans and Jews to the principal Hansa towns in 1325, offering free access into his domains to men of every order and profession. At this time Vilnius was facing raids of the Teutonic Order, although they never captured the castle, large portions of the town were burned down between 1365 and 1383. English king Henry IV spent the full year of 1390 supporting the unsuccessful siege of Vilnius by Teutonic Knights with his 300 fellow knights.

Between 1503 and 1522, the city was surrounded by a city wall to protect it from Crimean Tatar attacks. The city reached the peak of its development during the reign of Sigismund II. Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, settled here in 1544. After the foundation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, the city experienced a further boom, as Stephen Báthory, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, founded the Jesuit College of Vilnius (= Vilnius University) in 1579.

The first building was probably erected after King Mindaugas had converted to Christianity in 1251. After Mindaugas was killed by his nephew in 1263, pagan priests took over again, and a pagan temple may have stood here. The actual Christianization of Lithuania did not take place until the end of the 14th century when Grand Prince Jogaila was baptized. He had a church built again in 1387. On the occasion of Jogaila's appointment as King of Poland in 1388, Archbishop Bodzanta from Gniezno consecrated the new church as the seat of the Bishop of Vilnius.

Jogaila's church burned down in 1419 and Jogaila's cousin, Grand Duke Vytautas, had a new church built. The war with Moscow in 1654-1657 left severe damage to the cathedral, so extensive interior works were carried out in 1666-1676. In 1769, lightning caused the collapse of one of the two church towers erected at the portal during the Baroque reconstruction, and the church had to be closed.

The building of the present classicist cathedral was realized from 1783 to 1801. Even before the completion, however, the Vilnius diocese had been abolished after the incorporation of Lithuania into the Russian Empire in 1795-1798, after which it was subordinated to the Mogilev archbishopric.

Looted by the Germans during WWI, cracks were discovered in the walls in 1931, extensive renovation work was carried out in 1932-1939.

After WWII, the cathedral was closed by the Soviets in 1949 and later converted into an art gallery.

In 1989, the cathedral was returned to the Catholic Church and rededicated.