The Vilnius TV Tower ( lt, Vilniaus televizijos bokštas) is a high

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

in the

Karoliniškės Karoliniškės is a microdistrict and eldership of Vilnius, Lithuania. Construction of this district started in 1971. Karoliniškės covers about 3.7 km² in area. There is about 1.015 km² of the slop area along the Neris River, and about 0.11 ...

microdistrict Microdistrict, or microraion (russian: микрорайо́н, ''mikrorajón''), is a residential complex—a primary structural element of the residential area construction in the Soviet Union and in some post-Soviet and former Socialist st ...

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. It is the tallest structure in Lithuania, and it belongs to the SC Lithuanian Radio and Television Centre ( lt, AB Lietuvos radijo ir televizijos centras).

Design and construction

The tower was designed by V. Obydov and the engineering section by K. Balėnas. The construction of the tower started on 31 May 1974 and finished on December 30, 1980. The construction was funded by the 11th Five Year Plan of the Soviet Union, which had earmarked funds for strategic investment in the then Lithuanian SSR. The weight of the whole structure is estimated at . The structure is composed of a concrete base, a long hollow reinforced concrete pipe, a reinforced concrete saucer, and a long steel spike. Radio transmitters are housed in the lower part of the concrete tower with antennas attached to the steel spike. The observation deck from the ground houses the cafe "Paukščių takas" ( en, Milky Way), offers a picturesque view of the city and its surroundings, and sports a rotating platform that revolves once every 45 minutes. High-speed elevators reach the cafe from ground level in 40 seconds. On clear days, visibility can extend as far as Elektrėnai, a city approximately west, where power plants produced much of the electricity for Vilnius in Soviet times.

Museum

The TV tower played a major role in the Vilnius massacre, events of 13 January 1991, when 14 unarmed civilians lost their lives and 700 were injured opposing the Soviet military seizure of the tower. A small museum dedicated to the January 1991 battle is housed on the ground floor, and various markers in the surrounding area indicate places where Lithuanian citizens died while trying to maintain the blockade against Soviet troops.

Decoration

Since 2000, the tower has been decorated to look like a Christmas tree each Christmas season. During the 2006 FIBA World Championship, 2006 World Basketball Championship it was decorated with a large basketball net. Vilnius TV Tower becam
the biggest basketball hoop in the world
during the 2011 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries, FIBA European Basketball Championship. The hoop was 35 metres in diameter with a 40 metre-high net, assembled at a height of 170 metres. The lighting of the giant hoop took 2,560 metres of lighting cable and 545 bulbs. Bungee jumping, Bungee jumps are available to the public from the roof of the observation deck. Since 2019 tower decorations had changed. Light-emitting diode, LED lighting was installed and the tower has been glowing bright blue color in the dark. During national celebrations, the tower changes its color according Flag of Lithuania, lithuanian flag colors - yellow, green and red, dimming into each other and glowing for 2 minutes in one color.

References

External links

The Vilnius TV tower official website

SC Lithuanian Radio and Television Centre official website
* {{Supertall Buildings and structures in Vilnius Towers built in the Soviet Union Towers in Lithuania Television in Lithuania Towers completed in 1980 Towers with revolving restaurants Radio masts and towers in Europe Observation towers