Vilnius Town Hall () is a historical

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

in the square of the same name in 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 ...

Palace

The town hall in Vilnius was mentioned for the first time in 1432. Initially it was a

Gothic style Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque ar ...

building, and has since been reconstructed many times. The current Vilnius Town Hall was rebuilt in

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

according to the design by Laurynas Gucevičius in

1799 Events January–March * January 9 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound, to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the French Revolutionary Wars. * January ...

. It has remained unchanged since then. Its Gothic cellars have been preserved and may be visited. Nowadays it is used for representational purposes as well as during the visits of foreign state officials and rulers, including

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

Square

The Town Hall Square () at the end of the Pilies Street is a traditional centre of trade and events in Vilnius. Major annual fairs, such as Kaziukas Fair, are held in this square, the main

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen pinophyta, conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, associated with the celebration of Christmas. It may also consist of an artificial tree of similar appearance. The custom was deve ...

is decorated here, various concerts and other attractions are organised as well as celebrations of the important dates of the state.

History

As far back as the early fifteenth century, the square was bordered by small shops. With the expansion of the city and the development of trade the number of small shops was increasing. Most of them were selling

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

and

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

products. It is known that all of these shops could not have been sold, donated or transferred freely as everything was strictly regulated. Trading on the Town Hall Square was restricted by regulations such as the prohibition for the

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

butchers to build their butcher's shops both on the urban market and on Vokiečių (''German'') Street. It was also prohibited to buy up products on the roadsides and sell them later in the city at a higher price. It was a measure to avoid the season of high prices, especially if there was a shortage of some product such as

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

in deficit times. Any violations were punished with monetary fines,

flogging Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed ...

, imprisonment and confiscation of merchandise. Confiscated goods were donated to various refuges and hospitals. Following the example many established cities Vilnius was granted the

Magdeburg Rights Magdeburg rights (, , ; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages gr ...

in 1387. Those rights granted a right for merchants on the routes through Vilnius to stop in the capital and to sell their goods in a

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

. In 1503, due to the number of foreign traders the city built a special guest house for them to stay, on the site of the present day National Philharmonic. They had rooms for merchants and their retinues and premises to store their goods as well as room for horses, carts and sledges. Strict regulations were also imposed on traders and

guilds A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

regarding the construction of their market places and participation in the city's events. However, fighting with resellers was often a real challenge: powerful owners of jurisdictions would not always obey the orders of the rulers.

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

and Jewish tradesmen in the seventeenth century were forbidden to trade in

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

en,

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

and semi-silk

fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts and music * "The Fringe", or Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * Purple fri ...

s and edgings, but this prohibition was not applied to the said articles produced in manufactures of

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

and

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. Many attractions and events were organised in the square such as the performances of bears, travelling acrobats, comedians, and various troupes. The mysteries, or semi-religious performances, were also popular. The Town Hall Square was the place where various celebrations were announced such as meetings with important guests and foreign rulers and family festivals of local noblemen.

Gallery

The first project of Vilnius City Hall by Lithuanian architect Laurynas Gucevičius.jpg, The first reconstruction project by Laurynas Gucevičius Vilnia, Rynak. Вільня, Рынак (V. Timm, 1812).jpg, Retreating French army after unsuccessful invasion of Russia in 1812 Zaleski_Town_Hall_in_Vilnius.jpg, Marcin Zaleski, ''Vilnius Town Hall'', 1863 File:Three Kings' Day procession near the Town Hall of Vilnius in 2023.jpg, Winter 2023 File:Vilniaus Rotuse by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg, Façade, 2023

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Vilnius

Government buildings completed in 1799

Hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and the Early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gre ...