Vilnius Cathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Ladislaus

Vilnius Cathedral has more than six centuries of history. The church holds a wealth of religious, artistic and historical treasures that matter not only to the people of Vilnius but to all of Lithuania. Religious, cultural and historical heritage is the legacy of those who lived before us, connected with the history of faith in our land. The cathedral building has an elongated rectangular plan and a symmetrical composition, with features of Gothic (the masonry of the main part of the building), Renaissance and Baroque (St Casimir's and the Valavičius chapels) styles. As reconstructed by Laurynas Stuoka-Gucevičius, the cathedral is a grand, harmonious and monumental Classicist hall church with three naves – a wider central one and two narrower side naves. The spatial structure of the interior is Gothic, while its decoration is Classicist. The noble, clear architecture conceived by Laurynas Gucevičius was meant to reflect the kind of religion acceptable to the Age of Enlightenment – moderate, rational and fostering civic virtues. Massive pillars divide the interior into three naves, the walls are articulated by Doric pilasters, and between them are the portals of the side chapels with small triangular pediments. The ceiling is enlivened by vaults decorated with laurel garlands and arches adorned with rosettes. The high altar against the east wall echoes the architecture of a Classicist portal; its tympanum bears the sign of Divine Providence (an eye), and above it is the Crucified Christ (1805). The cathedral has eleven side chapels, a sacristy, two side entrances on the south and north, and a portico on the west. In the eastern part of the building, the domes with lanterns of St Casimir's Chapel and the sacristy stand symmetrically. On both sides of the cathedral the architect built a colonnade, whose friezes continue the motif of the friezes of St Casimir's Chapel and the sacristy, thus uniting these structures with the new cathedral.