The Church of St. Johns (), officially named St. John the Baptist and St. John the Apostle and Evangelist (), is located at the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

and dominates the university (

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...

) ensemble. Since the times of the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Academy professors and students used to pray here, and Vilnius theologians gave sermons. It was a place for performances and disputes, where theses were defended and kings greeted.

History

The church was built in 1388–1426, reconstructed in the 16th and 17th centuries. The tower, separate from the church itself, was built in the 16th century. After the fire in 1737, from 1738 to 1748, architect Johann Christoph Glaubitz completely reconstructed the church in style of late Baroque. During the 1827-28 reconstruction, architect

Karol Podczaszyński Karol Podczaszyński (; 7 November 1790 – 19 April 1860) was a Polish- Lithuanian leading Vilnius architect, a representative of the neoclassical architecture and a professor of the Vilnius University, as well as one of the pioneers of indus ...

destroyed the bulk of the sumptuous Baroque interior - nearly 3000 carts with splinters of altars, sculptures and stucco works were taken to a dump; chapels suffered the least. In the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

times the church was closed down and severely damaged. During Hitler's occupation, the

Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

Alfonsas Lipniūnas Alfonsas is a Lithuanian masculine given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person ...

, who was later imprisoned by the Nazis in the

Stutthof Stutthof was a Nazi concentration camp established by Nazi Germany in a secluded, marshy, and wooded area near the village of Stutthof (now Sztutowo) 34 km (21 mi) east of the city of Danzig (Gdańsk) in the territory of the German-an ...

camp and perished, delivered rebellious sermons in the church. In 1979 a university museum was founded there. In 1991 the church was returned to its parishioners. On his visit to Lithuania in 1993,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

held a meeting with intellectuals here.Prof. Tomas Venclova. VILNIUS; R. Paknys Publishing House, The church is dedicated to both

St John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

and

St John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( – ) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter, although there is no consensus on h ...

Architecture

The layout of the Church of St. Johns still reflects its original

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

structure. It is a

hall church A hall church is a Church (building), church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height. In England, Flanders and the Netherlands, it is covered by parallel roofs, typically, one for each vessel, whereas in Germany there is often one s ...

with three

naves The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type b ...

and seven asymmetrical

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

s. The tower, consisting of 5 gradually decreasing portions, is the tallest building of Vilnius Old Town (). The central focus of the church interior is a composition of 10 presbytery

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

s, unique in Lithuania and the

Baltic countries The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

(before Podczaszynski's demolition work there were as many as 22 altars in the presbytery and naves). The altars are positioned in a semi-circle, on varying planes and levels, and light illuminates them through the Gothic presbytery windows. They are abundantly decorated with paintings and sculptures. The

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

of the Church of St. Johns was the most famous one in Lithuania, but in the Soviet period it was destroyed; it has now been restored. In the central nave at the pillars stand 18 sculptures, 12 of which represent various

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

s bearing the name of John. All

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es in the church date from the 18th century and were uncovered and restored in the 1970s. The church contains many memorial monuments: to

Konstantinas Sirvydas Konstantinas Sirvydas (rarely referred as ''Konstantinas Širvydas''; ; ; – August 23, 1631) was a Lithuanian religious preacher, lexicographer, and one of the pioneers of Lithuanian literature from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, at the ti ...

(sculpt. Juozas Kėdainis, 1979),

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. He also largely influenced Ukra ...

(sculpt. Piotr Stryjenski and Marceli Gujski, 1899),

Simonas Daukantas Simonas Daukantas (; 28 October 1793 – 6 December 1864) was a Lithuanian/Samogitian historian, writer, and ethnographer. One of the pioneers of the Lithuanian National Revival, he is credited as the author of the first book on the history of Li ...

(sculpt. Gediminas Jokūbonis, 1979) and others.

Gallery

File:Church of St Johns at Vilnius, Lithuania in year 1582..jpg, Church of St Johns at Vilnius, Lithuania in year 1582. File:Album Wilenskie. 1845-1875 (5553003) (cropped).jpg, 19th century painting File:Church of St. Johns Interior 1, Vilnius, Lithuania - Diliff.jpg, Interior File:Church of St. Johns Interior 2, Vilnius, Lithuania - Diliff.jpg, Main altar File:Church of St. Johns Interior 3, Vilnius, Lithuania - Diliff.jpg, Organ File:Church_of_St_Johns,_Vilnius,_April_2015_(05).JPG, The Tower of St John's Church

References

{{Authority control Roman Catholic churches in Vilnius Baroque church buildings in Lithuania Roman Catholic churches in Lithuania Rebuilt buildings and structures in Lithuania Vilnius Old Town

History

Architecture

Gallery

See also

References