Description of the attraction
In the historical part of the city of Vilnius, there is one of the oldest Catholic churches in the city - the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is also called Franciscan, or the church on the sands. The history of this temple is closely connected with the history of another Franciscan temple - the Church of the Holy Cross.
The Franciscans were the first to come to Lithuania to convert the pagans to the Catholic faith. Historical documents indicate that the Franciscans have been in Vilnius since 1323, but at that time they did not have their own churches or monasteries.
Different sources show different dates for the construction of the Church: 1387, 1392, 1421. Over the centuries, the church was destroyed several times in whole or in part by fires. So, after a fire in 1533, the church was completely destroyed, and it had to be rebuilt. In the period between 1737 and 1748, terrible fires raged in Vilnius one after another. They did not pass by this temple either. Each time the temple was rebuilt or renovated. In the process of reconstruction, the church was significantly renewed. After reconstruction in 1764, the church was consecrated. It is in this form that the church has survived to this day.
This is a powerful stone building, which features the features of the transition period from Baroque to Classicism. There are chapels of St. John and St. Laurin in the church. The altar with marble imitation is equipped with six columns. Above them is a stucco portrait of St. Anthony, framed with silver and gilded flowers. There were 12 side altars. The monastery had a large collection of old books.
During the French invasion of 1812, the church did not escape the fate of the rest of the temples. The premises of the temple were converted into a granary, and a hospital was located in the premises of the monastery.
In 1864, the Russian tsarist authorities closed the church. Only the bell tower in the form of a tower with five bells, standing separately from the temple, escaped a destructive fate. It was built in the 16th century. But what was spared by the fires was not spared by people. This remarkable historical monument was destroyed in 1872. Several decades passed until the church was reopened in 1934. Before that, services were held in the chapel of the temple.
Soviet power brought new changes to the long-suffering fate of the temple. In 1949 the church and the monastery were again nationalized, the building of the church was again given over to the archive. The premises of the monastery housed various Soviet institutions: a city prison, a pawnshop, an armory, a reading room, etc. In 1998, the church was returned to its first and rightful owners, the Franciscans.
In the interior of the temple there are two chapels: the Chapel of St. Laurin and the Chapel of St. John. The large altar is decorated with six columns. They are made of stone that imitates marble. A stucco molding with the image of St. Anthony rises above the altar. A rare collection of old books was kept in the monastery. The appearance of the church is solid and severe. The facade seems to consist of a solid block of gray-white stone color.
The facade is decorated with 5 arched windows of different shapes and sizes, located asymmetrically at the level of all three tiers of the church. Unlike the façade, which has preserved its original 18th century appearance, the side walls of the church are newly plastered, painted in light colors and look quite fresh under the red arched roof of the third level, located along the entire length of the rectangular elongated structure.
