Vilnius city wall in the 16th century The Vilnius city wall was a

defensive wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

around

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 ...

, capital city of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...

. It was built between 1503 and 1522 for protection from the attacks by the

Crimean Khanate The Crimean Khanate ( crh, , or ), officially the Great Horde and Desht-i Kipchak () and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary ( la, Tartaria Minor), was a Crimean Tatars, Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to ...

at the beginning of the

Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars The Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars (also known as Russo-Lithuanian Wars, or just either Muscovite Wars or Lithuanian Wars)The conflicts are referred to as 'Muscovite wars' ( pl, wojny moskiewskie) in Polish historiography and as 'Lithuanian wars' in ...

. The stone and brick wall was a key element of the defensive system of Vilnius, and was paid for by the city's landowners. It contained nine gates and an artillery bastion.Вялікае Княства Літоўскае. Энцыклапедыя Т. 1: Абаленскі — Кадэнцыя. — Мінск: Беларуская Энцыклапедыя, 2005. — 684 с.: іл. ., старонка 436—437 Some of the original constructions have survived. * Subačius Gate was built at the end of what is now Holly Spirit street. *

Spas Gate Spas or SPAS may refer to: * Spa, a therapeutic water treatment Geography *Spas, Russia, several rural localities in Russia *Spas, Lviv Raion, Lviv Oblast, a village in Lviv Raion in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine *Spas, Sambir Raion, Lviv Oblast, a villag ...

was built near the

Vilnia River The Vilnia (also ''Vilnelė''; , ''Vilnia'' ; ) is a river in Lithuania. Its source is near the village of Vindžiūnai, 5 km south of Šumskas, at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. The Vilnia is 79.6 km long and its basin covers 624&n ...

in the eastern side of

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

. * Wet Gate stood near Cathedral Square in Vilnius. *

Tatar Gate The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

stood at the corner of Liejykla and Totoriai street. *

Vilija Gate The river Neris () or Viliya ( be, Ві́лія, pl, Wilia ) rises in northern Belarus. It flows westward, passing through Vilnius ( Lithuania's capital) and in the south-centre of that country it flows into the Nemunas (Neman), at Kaunas, ...

stood at the corner of Vilnius and Bernardinai street. *

Trakai Gate Trakai (; see names section for alternative and historic names) is a historic town and lake resort in Lithuania. It lies west of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Because of its proximity to Vilnius, Trakai is a popular tourist destination. T ...

was built at the corner of Trakai and Pylimas streets. It was the main gate of the city and contained (as did the

Gate of Dawn The Gate of Dawn ( lt, Aušros vartai), or Sharp Gate ( pl, Ostra Brama, la, Porta Acialis, be, Вострая Брама, lt, Ašmens vartai, russian: Острая брама) is a city gate in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and one of ...

) a chapel. * Rūdininkai Gate stood at the end of the Rūdininkai street. * Medininkai Gate guarded the entrance to the southern part of the city. It is now known as the Gate of Dawn. An artillery bastion was built to protect the eastern side of the city. It is currently a museum of

militaria Militaria, also known as military memorabilia, are military equipment which are collected for their historical significance. Such items include firearms, swords, sabres, knives, bayonets, helmets and other equipment such as uniforms, military ord ...

from Vilnius and is under renovation. Following the

partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for ...

, the

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

government ordered to tear down most of the wall and all the gates, except the

. Some parts of the wall are still visible throughout the

Old Town of Vilnius The Old Town of Vilnius ( lt, Vilniaus senamiestis, pl, Stare Miasto w Wilnie, be, Стары горад у Вільнюсе, russian: Старый город в Вильнюсe), one of the largest surviving medieval old towns in both Norther ...

or are going to be restored and displayed.

References

* Ragauskienė, R.; Antanavičius, D; Burba, D.; ir kt. Vilniaus žemutinė pilis XIV a. – XIX a. pradžioje: 2002–2004 m. istorinių šaltinių paieškos. Vilnius. 2006 {{coord, 54.674265, N, 25.28955, E, display=title, region:LT_type:landmark Buildings and structures in Vilnius History of Vilnius