Seimas Palace ( lt, Seimo rūmai) is the seat of the

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendmen ...

, the Lithuanian parliament. It is located in Lithuania's capital

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 ...

History

Work began on the construction of the first wing of the palace, a purpose-built building for the

Supreme Soviet of Lithuanian SSR The Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR ( lt, Lietuvos TSR Aukščiausioji Taryba; russian: Верховный Совет Литовской ССР, ''Verkhovnyy Sovet Litovskoy SSR'') was the supreme soviet (main legislative institution) of th ...

, in 1976. The construction was supervised by architects

Algimantas Nasvytis Algimantas Nasvytis (8 April 1928 – 27 July 2018) was a Lithuanian architect. He was active in the pro-independence Sąjūdis movement and served as Minister of Construction and Urban Development in the first four Cabinets of Lithuania after L ...

and

Vytautas Nasvytis Vytautas (c. 135027 October 1430), also known as Vytautas the Great ( Lithuanian: ', be, Вітаўт, ''Vitaŭt'', pl, Witold Kiejstutowicz, ''Witold Aleksander'' or ''Witold Wielki'' Ruthenian: ''Vitovt'', Latin: ''Alexander Vitoldus'', O ...

. In 1980, 9717.37 square meters of the palace were completed. Initially, the palace was named as "Soviet Palace". Other two wings housed Ministry of Finance of Lithuanian SSR and Trade Unions Council. Later the building was expanded due to growing needs. The final phase of the palace complex consists of three wings, with the main, or first wing, housing the Parliament Hall, where legislation is passed. On 11 March 1990, Lithuania's independence was re-established in the old Parliament Hall, where the re-establishment declaration from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

was adopted. On the same day, most of the emblems of the Lithuanian SSR, which were installed, were been removed or covered by the coat of arms of Lithuania. In addition, in 1993–1997 the western wing of the first wing gave temporary shelter to the

President of the Republic of Lithuania The President of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentas) is the head of state of Lithuania. The officeholder has been Gitanas Nausėda since 12 July 2019. Powers The president has somewhat more executive authority tha ...

. Now, as in 1990–1992, it again houses the offices of the Speaker of Parliament and his Secretariat. In 2006, work started on building a new Parliament Hall. Employees in the second wing were housed in temporary accommodation. On 10 September 2007, the new Parliament Hall was officially opened. It cost fifty million

Litas The Lithuanian litas (ISO currency code LTL, symbolized as Lt; plural ''litai'' (nominative) or ''litų'' (genitive) was the currency of Lithuania, until 1 January 2015, when it was replaced by the euro. It was divided into 100 centų (genit ...

. The old Parliament Hall remained to be used for celebratory sessions of the Seimas (e. g. opening sessions of newly elected Seimas).

Gallery

Image:Seimas 1 rumai vestibiulis.JPG, Interior of Building 1 Image:Flickr - europeanpeoplesparty - CES Seminar 'Baltic Freedom, The Next 20 Years" (30).jpg, Old Parliament Hall "Act of 11 March" Image:Seimas Constitution Hall1.JPG, Constitution Hall Image:Baltijas_Asamblejas_31.sesija_Viļņā_(8169464428).jpg, New Parliament Hall Image:Seimas 3 rumai 2.JPG, Building 3

History

Gallery

References

See also